Harry Potter and the hidden powers
by Star Polaris
Summary: Translation After the triwizards tournament, Harry returns to the Dursley very depressed... but he doesn't know that soon everything in his life is going to change
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and in this case I don't even own the story, I'm just translating it from Khari, who has been so kind to start translating Dangers in the Past to Spanish and I've decided to return the favour. So, now, read and enjoy.  
  
Weird greetings:  
  
Harry was looking outside from his place in his uncle's car while they drove towards Privet Drive. In his mind the images of the last Tri-wizards tournament kept repeating themselves. Once again he felt all the feelings from that moment and once again, since all that happened, he blamed himself for having told Cedric to take the cup with him. If he had taken the cup alone, Cedric would still be alive. if he hadn't said anything, he would still be alive. still be alive. alive.  
  
Through the car's mirror, Uncle Vernon saw how tears felt down his nephew's cheeks, and for the first time in his life he was worried about him. After all, he hadn't seen him cry since he had been a baby. No matter how many things the boy went through, no matter how many insults or how many times Dudley hit him, he hadn't seen him cry again. That wasn't normal, after all, when he returned from school, he was always happy. Sad because he had to leave his school during the summer, but happy because he had been there. What could have happened for him to be in such turmoil?  
  
"Mmmm. How was school? Everything ok?" Uncle Vernon asked, not very sure.  
  
Harry's reaction made him uncomfortable, but after all it was normal. The boy had been so surprised at the fact that his uncle was worrying that he couldn't help but stare at him. Even so he nodded. After that, he kept looking for a while, but then returned his gaze towards the window and Uncle Vernon saw he became sad again. The older man sighed, it didn't really matter, he had all summer to find out, but even so he would have to talk to Petunia about it.  
  
When they arrived at number 4 Privet Drive, aunt Petunia was waiting for them, she seemed to be very anxious to talk to her husband. Harry, knowing he wasn't wanted there, quickly made his way up the stairs thinking that he would take the trunk up later, at least, if he was allowed to have it in his room.  
  
"Something wrong, Petunia?" Uncle Vernon asked.  
  
"I have to talk with you right now. its about Harry." Answered Petunia quickly and low, as if someone could be listening in on them.  
  
"Well, I wanted to talk to you about him too. earlier in the car, he was acting very strange, he seemed sad, Petunia,. I even saw him cry."  
  
"I know."  
  
"How comes you know?" Asked her husband without understanding how she could know.  
  
"Here, read this." She answered, giving him a piece of parchment.  
  
Uncle Vernon looked at the piece of parchment cautiously. He knew it had to be from that school, maybe from the same person who had left Harry on their door nearly fourteen years ago. He thought it would be a complain about something the boy had done during school, but seeing his wife's face he knew it had to be something really important. So, he took the letter and started to read. As he read, his eyes became larger and his face paled.  
  
"No. no, it can't be true." Said Uncle Vernon nearly softly. "In that letter they told us he had died!! That Harry had killed him!! He can't be back!!"  
  
"But he is, Vernon." Said Petunia. "The murderer is back, he killed that boy and is after Harry. He wants to kill him as he killed my sister and her husband."  
  
"Now I understand why the boy was behaving that way in the car, he probably blames himself for that boy's death, but it's not his fault."  
  
"Vernon, what are we going to do? I may not have got along with my sister but I didn't want her dead. Harry is my nephew and I don't want to lose him like I did my sister."  
  
"Don't worry, the letter says he'll be safe as long as he remains in the house. Voldemort won't be able to harm him, so we're going to take care of him." Then, he reluctantly added. "And we should accept his abno. I mean, his.gift."  
  
"Do you mean, treating him right and accept he's a wizard?" Asked Petunia astounded.  
  
"Yes."  
  
Uncle Vernon decided to start by carrying his nephew's trunk himself, while Petunia warned Dudley. When he reached Harry's room, he found him deeply asleep, so he left the trunk of the bed's feet, opened the window and Hedwig's cage. Then he walked towards his nephew and tucked him in.  
  
It was late that night when Harry woke up with a start because of his nightmares. He touched his scar, it didn't hurt, actually it hadn't hurt since that night in which Voldemort had come back. It was then that he noticed something strange, he was tucked in but he couldn't remember doing it. Looking through his room carefully, he also saw the open window and Hedwig's empty cage. He didn't remember opening the window, it was then that he saw his trunk. Had Uncle Vernon done all that? No, that was impossible, the Dursleys hated him.  
  
"I'm starting to imagine things." Said Harry before burying his head in his pillow. "It's impossible that Uncle Vernon would do something nice for me." He whispered before falling asleep.  
  
The next morning, Harry woke up late. It was already half past nine and Aunt Petunia hadn't come to wake him so he could make breakfast. Dudley hadn't even started to yell at his door to get food. He listened carefully, maybe his watch was broken but the silence on the first floor showed that his uncle had already got up, same as Dudley, and if they were up, that meant Aunt Petunia was too. Then... why hadn't they woken him up to make breakfast?  
  
He went down to the kitchen confused, expecting to be shouted at by everyone when he entered. The sight that greeted him left him stunned. Aunt Petunia was making breakfast and Dudley was helping her while Uncle Vernon calmly read the paper. The most surprising thing was that no one said anything to him for having got up so late.  
  
"Go..Good morning." He said, without really believing what he was seeing.  
  
"Ah, good morning, Harry. Did you sleep well?" Asked Aunt Petunia.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Well, sit down for breakfast. You too, Dudley."  
  
"Yes, mom."  
  
Harry couldn't believe his eyes. Had they changed his family while he was in school or something like that? Aunt Petunia was being kind, Dudley hadn't complained for having had to help his mother and Uncle Vernon hadn't said anything to hurt him. What was going on? Had Sirius paid them a visit? No, if that had been the case, they wouldn't be acting kind but rather terrified. So,... What was happening?  
  
The whole day was pretty much the same. The Dursley were kind to him and the strangest thing was that they took care of him, and were interested in what he did. Harry nearly had a heart failure when halfway the evening his Uncle entered his room and saw him doing homework. That really scared him, but what really kills him was when the man didn't scream at him but instead calmly asked:  
  
"Harry, what are you doing?" Asked Uncle Vernon, entering the room.  
  
"Er... Homework, Uncle Vernon." Answered Harry horrified at the fact that his uncle had caught him doing homework.  
  
"Ahh, already doing homework? The first day of holidays? I'm impressed."  
  
"You... you're not angry?" Asked Harry, ready to faint.  
  
"No, should I get angry?" Asked the man calmly. "What subject are you working on?"  
  
"Charms.  
  
"Well, then I'll leave you alone so you can concentrate." Answered his uncle.  
  
Harry watched in shocked silence as his uncle left with a smile on his lips. He was about to write to Ron, asking if he knew what was going on and what he should do, but immediately changed his mind. Probably the situation would only last a few days, two at most, there wasn't any reason to write to Ron for something that wasn't going to last. Or at least, that was what he had thought, because three days later the situation hadn't changed, so he finally wrote the letter. He picked up a quill and a piece of parchment and began to write.  
  
"Hey Ron:  
  
How is the beginning of the summer going? Everything alight? I guess your father has a lot of work with the whole thing about Voldemort. Has Fudge told everyone about what really happened or is he hiding everything, as he wanted to do? I hope he has finally seen reason and has told the truth.  
  
I'm doing fine, actually, too well. I don't understand what's going on, but since I came back from school, everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, has been really kind to me. Dudley has allowed me to play with his video-games a lot of times, and my aunt and uncle have changed. They take care of me and they are even interested in school things!!! It's really weird. I thought it would only last a few days but it doesn't seem like it's going to change anytime soon. This morning, when I got up, I found lots of new clothes! And later, after lunch I saw that Dudley's old rags had disappeared. Everything now fits me and it's all new. I really don't know what's going on, do you thing they may be under a curse?  
  
Harry."  
  
Once he had finished writing the letter, he read through it again and nodded. He walked to Hedwig's cage where his owl extended his claw, waiting for him to tie the letter.  
  
"Bring this to Ron, ok?  
  
Hedwig nipped his finger gently and flew out of the window. Harry watched her fly away and hoped she wouldn't take too long to come back. Indeed, he didn't have to wait long. That same night, when he was about to go to sleep, Hedwig returned with Ron's letter.  
  
"Hey Harry:  
  
The summer has been great so far, even if Fred and George seem to be working more than usually, you can hear lots of explosions coming from their room, much more than last year. It seems they have invented a lot of new things and my mother doesn't yell at them as much. I think she is not so obsessed about having them work for the Ministry of Magic anymore. My father has a lot of work there, he's trying to warn everyone who is not stupid enough to believe Fudge about You-Know-Who's return, because the Minister keeps denying it. But well...  
  
You say the muggles have changed the way they treat you? Really? Uau! Better for you! No? I'm really happy about that change even if I think it's weird that it has been so sudden. I asked Bill if there was any curse that could change the way they acted without being one of the unforgivables, but he said that that wasn't possible, so I don't know what can have changed. I'm going to write to Hermione maybe she knows of something that could explain it and I'm going to ask Dad.  
  
Well, take care and be careful.  
  
Ron W.  
  
Well, it seemed that it hadn't been a curse that had made the Dursley change, so the only thing he could do was enjoy it as long as it lasted. He gave Hedwig some water and food and laid down, not knowing if the next day would be back to normal.  
  
When he woke up it was still dark outside, it had barely been a few hours since he went to sleep. What had woken him up was a sharp pain in his scar and someone shaking and calling him.  
  
"Harry... Harry... wake up, Harry. What's wrong?"  
  
It was aunt Petunia's voice. He opened his eyes but he was barely able to see his aunt, uncle and cousin. Reaching out, he tried to find his glasses and was grateful when someone placed them in his hand, but by the feel of it, it seemed to be Dudley. He put them on but things didn't really change. The pain in his scar made his vision completely blurred, besides, he could hardly breath, He stood up shakily and walked towards the window. He had felt that much pain once before, it had been two weeks ago, when he saw Voldemort's revival.  
  
"Harry... What's going on? We suddenly heard you screaming and when we came in we saw you practically writhe in pain." said Uncle Vernon.  
  
Harry didn't answer him, he had reached the window and was staring fixedly at something outside. When the Dursley looked, they saw a man covered in a cloak. He was tall and for what they could see, he was carrying a wand.  
  
"Who is that man?" Asked aunt Petunia, fearing she already knew the answer.  
  
"Voldemort." Answered Harry in a quiet voice.  
  
They saw Voldemort approach the house, it was clear that he intended to come in and kill the boy, but when he was about to reach the garden's door a big, blue shield arose around the whole house.  
  
"You don't honestly think this is going to stop me, do you, Dumbledore? You know I have now got back my power and I can easily destroy it." Said Voldemort to himself.  
  
Voldemort raised his wand and started to slowly push it inside the shield, which started to produce small blue sparks at being broken by Voldemort. When the dark wizard's hand touched the shield, this broke down completely in a show of blue lights and sparks. Voldemort was about to come in when something claimed his attention. It was a beautiful bird covered with long red and orange feathers, seemingly like fire. The bird started to sing and Harry felt how the pain in his scar started to recede and that he was able to breath again. It was Fawkes.  
  
"Fawkes... what are you doing here?" Said Harry when the bird landed on his shoulder and brushed his head against the boy's cheek. "Is Dumbledore on his way?"  
  
As an answer to his question, the old mage appeared suddenly, accompanied by Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Arthur, Bill and Carlie Weasley, a which and a wizard that Harry didn't know. Together, the eight of them formed a defense in front of the house.  
  
"I should have known..." Mumbled Voldemort. "The shield was a signal to warn them I was attacking the house and so be able to defend it with the old man leading it." He raised his head towards Harry and the Dursley and with a cruel smirk he added in a loud voice. "You may be safe for tonight, but next time I'll kill you." After those words, the dark wizard disappeared in a soft puff.  
  
The eight people forming the defense sighed relieved and turned towards Harry smiling before entering the house. It hadn't been more than two minutes when Harry, followed by the Dursley, walked down to the living room, where the other eight were already waiting. They were all torn between curiosity at the muggle things (specially Arthur Weasley who was only restraining himself from touching everything due to the seriousness of the situation) and worry.  
  
When Harry came in and saw Sirius, he ran up to the man and found himself in a protective embrace from his godfather and felt a few pats on his back coming from Remus and the Weasleys.  
  
"Sirius,... I'm so happy to see you." Said Harry, still in Sirius' hug.  
  
"Harry... Are you alright? Did something happen to you?" Asked Sirius worried.  
  
"No, don't worry, I'm fine."  
  
"Are you sure?" He said with a worried look at his now red scar. "And this?" He added while he passed a finger over the scar lightly.  
  
"Auch. Really, I'm fine Sirius. This is normal, right, Professor Dumbledore?"  
  
"Yes, Sirius, it's normal." Said Dumbledore, and to Harry he seemed to be much more worried than usual.  
  
Everyone sat down in the couches of the living room while aunt Petunia kindly offered them to make some tea, which caused some surprise. Everyone was looking extremely serious. When Aunt Petunia returned with the tea, Dumbledore looked straight at Harry.  
  
"I'm sure you're aware how serious this situation is, Harry." He stated seriously. "Voldemort not only knows where you live but he has also been able to easily break the shield I put around the house years ago. You're no longer safe here."  
  
"I know."  
  
"Then you also know that you can't stay here much longer." Harry nodded. "Between Professor Flitwick, Severus and I we are working on something that will get you to a safe place, a place that no matter what Voldmort tries he won't be able to reach."  
  
"Where can I go so Voldemort doesn't find me?" Asked Harry surprised.  
  
"You'll know it soon." Answered Sirius with a smile.  
  
"And why are you so happy?" Wondered Harry. "If the ministry catches you here, you will be in a lot of trouble."  
  
"You'll know soon." Said Remus. "Now, the most important thing is to bring you to a safer place. Go get your things, we're leaving."  
  
"Where to?"  
  
"Home." Said Mr Weasley. "You'll be coming with us."  
  
"Yeah, by know mom will have Ron's room ready." Said Bill.  
  
"Yes, and everyone else is bound to be waiting for us." Added Charlie with a smile.  
  
"And how are we getting to the Burrow? Through Floo powder or with a... portkey?"  
  
"Neither." Said Dumbledore. "Both things are easily tracked so you'll be going by muggle means, by car. Sirius, Remus and you are going to take a cab."  
  
"A cab?" Asked Harry incredulously.  
  
"Correct."  
  
"But what if someone recognizes Sirius, then what?" Asked Harry worriedly.  
  
"I doubt anyone is going to recognize me in y dog form, Harry. Don't worry about that."  
  
"Oh, ok." Then he looked towards the which and wizard he didn't know. "Emmm... who are you?"  
  
"Well Harry, he is Mundungus Fletcher." Said the witch calmly. "And you should really recognize me."  
  
"It's the first time I see you."  
  
"Are you sure?" Asked the woman with a small smirk playing on her lips. "It seems that if you don't see me with white hair, muggle clothes and lots cats around you're not able to recognize me."  
  
"White hair, muggle clothes, cats." Mumbled Harry. "White hair and a lot of cats! That's not possible! You're Mrs Figg!"  
  
"BINGO!" Laughed the woman. "I'm Arabella Figg, you can call me Arabella."  
  
"But..." Harry looked her over closely, she was about Sirius' age. Her hair was blond and her face didn't held a single wrinkle. "But..."  
  
"I believe you've learned about the aging potion, haven't you, Harry?" Said Dumbledore smiling. "If I'm not mistaken it was at the beginning of last term, Mr. Fred and George Weasley" The other Weasley sitting around the room listened closely. "tried to go through the age line with an aging potion and..."  
  
"And after crossing the line they got a large, white beard." Said Harry. "Yes, I remember. Does that mean that you...?"  
  
"Potions was always one of my favorite subjects." Said Arabella. "And now that the introductions are done, you should go get your things."  
  
"Yes, of course."  
  
Harry went up to his room and started to gather his possessions as quickly as possible. Well, his luck with the Dursley hadn't lasted much. Now that they were behaving like a normal family he had to escape to some unknown place so Voldemort would not be able to find him.  
  
When he returned downstairs he found his aunt and uncle dressed and ready to go, it seemed they had decided to bring them themselves instead waiting for the taxi. Dudley didn't seem to be very fond of the idea, he probably still remembered the tong-ton toffee Fred and George had given him last year. They picked up Harry's trunk and put it in the car. Everyone climbed in and following the directions of Charlie Weasley, who had decided to go with them, they started to make their way towards the Burrow.  
  
To be continued. 


	2. The burrow

Disclaimer: See chapter 1. Just remember that this story is just a translation and that the author who wrote this is Khari.  
  
2. The Burrow.  
  
When they arrived at the Burrow, it was nearly dawn; they had needed practically the whole night to get here. Harry had barely got out of the car when he felt himself being lifted into a big hug from Mrs. Weasley.  
  
"Harry! Oh, Harry! We were so worried about you," said Mrs Weasley. "When Arthur got the call about you being in danger, I thought I was going to go mad with worry. Are you alright, Dear?"  
  
"I'm fine, Mrs. Weasley. Thank you very much for worrying about me." Said Harry, still in her arms.  
  
"Harry!" Cried two voices at once.  
  
When Harry looked to the place where he heard the voices came from, he found himself face to face with Ron and Hermione, both of them looked very worried. He quickly felt that Mrs Weasley's arms were releasing him and he then went into Hermione's, who hugged him tightly while the redhead looked him over carefully, trying to determine if he was alright.  
  
"Ron, stop looking at me like I'm going to break," said Harry.  
  
"I'm glad to see you're alright." Said the redhead, who looked like he was about to hug him too. "Never scare me like that again."  
  
"Yeah, of course, like Harry wants You-Know-Who to kill him," answered Ginny, appearing in front of them.  
  
When Mrs. Dursley saw the redheaded girl, she whimpered slightly and made a small sound that sounded like 'Lily'; that resulted in the Weasleys noticing that they were there.  
  
"Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Dursley. Did you come with Harry?" Asked a very surprised Mrs. Weasley. "How kind of you. Allow me to introduce myself; my name's Molly Weasley and these are my children. You already know Bill and Charlie and my husband. This here is Percy, the twins are Fred and George, this here is Ron and she's my only daughter Ginny."  
  
"I'm Petunia Dursley, and this is my husband Vernon."  
  
The twins started to look around with the same evil smile edged upon their faces, and Harry, knowing who they were looking for, watched them as the evil smiles faded; he guessed they had given up on their search. Then Aunt Petunia walked up to him.  
  
"Well, Harry, we're going. You know we've left Dudley alone. Write to us, ok?"  
  
After that, they said goodbye to the Weasley, Sirius and Remus and returned to Privet Drive.  
  
"Well, it seems that they have really changed." Said Ron surprised.  
  
"We better go inside, we can't have anyone seeing Harry's here because else this wouldn't be a safe place for him." Said Mrs. Weasley. "Ron, why don't you and your brothers get Harry's trunk to your room?"  
  
"I can bring it myself, Mrs. Weasley, don't worry." Said Harry.  
  
"No problem, Harry. We'll put it away." Said one of the twins.  
  
"Come on, Harry, you've not had breakfast yet, have you? You must be hungry! Come with me, I'll cook you some breakfast. You too, Mr. Lupin and Mr. Black."  
  
They entered the house and Mrs. Weasley started to cook breakfast for everyone since no one has eaten anything since the night before. When she finished, she served lots of food to Harry, Sirius, and Remus, deciding they had to eat a lot. Harry barely was able to ask the question over the noise.  
  
"Remus. What happened last night?" He asked when everyone was quiet.  
  
"Well." he started, "let's see. When Voldemort attacked you, the defensive shield rose, right?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Ok, well, actually, that shield was put there to protect you from the Death Eaters, not Lord Voldemort, so when he attacked you, the shield would break down. We also built the shield to be a kind of warning, so if some dark wizard, either Voldemort or a Death Eater, tried to get into the house, the shield would react, sending a warning to certain people. At first, it was only Arabella, Mundungus, Dumbledore and I, but after what happened at the tournament, Sirius asked to be part of the group, as did the Weasley's, as you saw tonight. Is that enough?"  
  
"Not yet, where will I be going?"  
  
"Ahh, that." Everyone in the kitchen except for Ron and Harry smiled mysteriously, "you'll know that when the time's right." Answered Sirius.  
  
"You told me that last night." Protested Harry.  
  
"Then just wait until it's time."  
  
The few days they spent at the Burrow where comfortable and peaceful. Just as Ron had said before, the twins were working harder than usually on their pranks; it seemed that those thousand galleons had been very useful, and they used that money to buy new supplies to make new pranks. They had also kept their word and bought Ron a new dress robe; the dress robe was a flaming red.  
  
Unlike last year, Percy didn't seem to be as obsessed in his work, and even with the death of Mr. Crouch, and he had gained more responsibilities it seemed that with Voldemort's return, he had been thinking about things and had realized that some things were more important than work. Besides his high position in the International magic Department allowed him to have a lot of influence with the other countries and he was able to help form an alliance against Voldemort.  
  
It seemed that Bill and Charlie had asked for some time off and planned to stay the remaining summer with their family. And just last year, they showed that they were good people and nearly as mischievous as Fred and George. They had told some jokes to Harry that made him laugh a lot.  
  
Ginny was as shy as ever, but it seemed she was slowly starting to get over it. On a few occasions, you could see her happily talking with Harry or Sirius, who had decided to stay at the Burrow to make sure nothing happens to Harry. Remus, on the other hand, was always going from one place to another, but he always had some time to come by.  
  
So, for Harry, those days were really happy; he was nearly able to forget that Voldemort was after him and that Voldemort would not stop until he had accomplished his objective, which was to kill Harry. With Ron and Hermione at his side, the days passed nearly without notice and so July 31st arrived soon, and with it, Harry's fifteenth birthday. During the day, Ron and Hermione kept Harry busy, at Mrs. Weasley's request.  
  
"So, Harry, how about a game of chess?" asked Ron.  
  
"Oh, well, why not?" smiled the boy, "maybe this time I'll be able to win."  
  
"Not in your dreams," told Ron.  
  
When they finished the game, it was already dinnertime and Ginny called them to the garden for dinner. When they reached the door, Harry saw Ron and Hermione look at each other with wide smiles. When he walked out, he saw the garden was full of tables filled with food, all the Weasley with Sirius and Remus standing around it.  
  
"SURPRISE!" Shouted everyone. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!"  
  
Harry stayed rooted in the doorway with his eyes wide open and a slack jaw. Ron found his friend's reaction rather funny and he dragged Harry towards the tables, where everyone was waiting, smiling down at him.  
  
"Congratulations, Harry, dear." Said Mrs Weasley smiling.  
  
"I. this. I didn't expect it." Said Harry surprised.  
  
"Well. that was the whole point," said George. "You didn't have to expect it."  
  
"Else, it wouldn't be surprise." Added Fred.  
  
"I. Thank you." Said Harry.  
  
"Don't thank us." Said Bill, "thank Ron. He was the one who came up with it, we just helped pull it off."  
  
That was, without a doubt, the best birthday Harry had ever had. Mrs. Weasley had baked a large chocolate cake with fifteen candles, and Fred and George had placed lots of pranks in the food, most of them mysteriously went to Percy, except for two, which Dumbledore got. It nearly seemed that Percy had the summoning the charmed food to him.  
  
When it became dark, a lot of presents appeared, coming from the people gathered there; everyone went to stand around Harry as he opened his gifts. The first one was from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley; it was a simple present but Harry liked it very much; it was a magical picture of every Weasley, who were happily waving towards Harry. The next one was from Bill; it was a small pyramid, in which there was even a small cursed mummy. Charlie's present was a small Regbly cub; it was a small animal that looked like a dragon, it reached the size of a cat when it became adult, and it was, of course, much less dangerous than a dragon. In fact, it was nearly as kind and loyal as a dog, although it was really strange and valuable.  
  
"I have a friend who has a Redgby that had a litter not long ago. I told him I wanted to give you one, and well, here you are." Explained Charlie with a smile.  
  
"Thank you very much, Charlie. You know, I think Hagrid would love to have one, too."  
  
"I think he would like it much more if it was as big as a house and a much more fierce." Said Ron.  
  
After the Redgby, came Percy's present. It was a Muggle book that he had found while wandering around London. After that, Sirius and Remus gave him a big photo album, with pictures of the Marauders when they were students; thankfully, there was not a single one of Peter, he would not have been able to bear it if there had been one. After that, Hermione gave him a small box.  
  
"Here you go, Harry, this is our present." Said Hermione.  
  
"Ours?" He asked, confused.  
  
"Yes, it's from Hermione and I." Said Ron. "We bought it together."  
  
"Together?" Harry smiled mischievously. "Both of you, together?"  
  
"Yes. we decided to buy the present together." Said Hermione, blushing. "We wanted something that was from both."  
  
Harry arched an eyebrow amused, while he looked, both blushed even more at what he was insinuating, then he noticed the twins had disappeared.  
  
"Where are the twins?" He asked surprised.  
  
"Here!!!" Answered two voices, although sounding like one.  
  
It seemed that while Harry started to open his presents, the twins had ran into the house to get theirs, and from the look in their faces, he shouldn't be expecting anything good from it.  
  
"Open our present, Harry!" Said Hermione.  
  
Harry grabbed the small package and began to unwrap the paper. Inside, he found a small box and when he opened it, he found a locket attached to a long golden chain. Inside, there was a picture of the three of them just after they had gone to the Quidditch World Cup, and on the other side was an inscription that said: 'From your friends: Ron and Hermione'.  
  
"Wow! Thanks, it's beautiful." Said Harry while putting it around his neck.  
  
"You're welcome." Said Ron and Hermione at the same time. "It's so you will always remember us, no matter where you are." Added Hermione.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"Awww, stop with the mushiness and open our present!" Said the twins.  
  
Harry dropped the locked under his shirt and took a large box that immediately attracted everyone's presence. When he unwrapped it and opened the box, he saw all kind of pranks.  
  
"WOW!" Cried Harry when he saw what was inside.  
  
"They are our most recent creations!" Said Fred with a smile while George was running around the table, trying to get away from his mother's roller, who was chasing after him for having had the idea to give such a present to Harry. "We thought about selling it to Zonko's but the first party is for you."  
  
"Thank you very much. I will be able to pull a lot of pranks at. emmm. well." said Harry, glancing at Dumbledore out of the corner of his eyes.  
  
"Ohhh. don't worry about me, I'm sure you're going to have a great time next year, and those pranks are going to help you a lot." Said Dumbledore, very amused, with a twinkle in his eyes.  
  
As Harry started to close the box, George, who managed to get away from his mother's killer roller, looked horrified at this and told Harry so.  
  
"What are you doing!? You can't close the box yet!" He said, drawing Fred's attention, who was at the moment being chased by his mother. "You have not seen everything."  
  
"That's true, you've missed the best thing!" Agreed Fred.  
  
Harry started to carefully rummage through the large pile of pranks, and after nearly five minutes, he found a big but narrow box in the bottom of the box that had been charmed so it was much deeper than it seemed. When he opened it, he saw three simple lockets with a different name inscribed on each of them. On the first one, the name 'Harry' was written in italics; on the second locket, also in italics, was written 'Sirius' and on the third, 'Ron'; inside the locket were written the other two names.  
  
"What's this?" Asked Harry, surprised.  
  
"It's our best invention." Said Fred proudly.  
  
"Yes, and it has nothing to do with pranks," added George, seeing his mother out of the corner of his eyes.  
  
"And what is it?" Asked the boy curiously, wondering what it could be if it wasn't a prank.  
  
"Ah. it's wonderful." Assured George. "We got the idea two summers ago when Ron tried to phone you through that muggle phone."  
  
"Yes, at that moment, we thought that it would be very useful if wizards had something similar to that, but it stayed as that, just an idea."  
  
"But then, at the beginning of the summer, we got a benefactor who took pity on us and decided to invest on our pranks, without any conditions and without having to repay him anything." The boy's mother looked like she would love to murder whoever it was who had given them the money. "When Harry's house was attacked, and we found out that Professor Dumbledore wanted to send him somewhere safe so that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named would not be able to find him, we thought that we would use some of the money we got from our benefactor to make something useful for Harry."  
  
"We remembered that thought we had had two years ago and here it is." Said Fred pleased. "It's a pocket communicator, quick and efficient. We have made three, one for Harry, one for Mr. Black and another one for Ron, so that the three of them will be united. When one of them wants to talk to one of the others, he just has to slide his finger to the name of the person he wants to talk to and that person's communicator will be activated."  
  
"An image from said person will appear in the blank space and you will be able to normally talk. It works in every place and under any circumstances. It has been tested a lot of times."  
  
"The two of you. had invented this?" Asked Mrs. Weasley, astounded.  
  
"Yep." Said George. "We had thought we might also be able to use them in the upcoming war against You-Know-Who, it could be very useful to communicate with each other when there's an attack."  
  
Dumbledore seemed to be very interested in the communicators and looked at it curiously while Mrs. Weasley looked like she had received the best news in her whole life; she went from wanting to hit the boy's heads with her roller to huging and kissing them. After that, Dumbledore approached Harry and he seemed to be divided between sadness and happiness.  
  
"I don't think you're going to like my present very much, Harry. My present will be your safety."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Harry, tomorrow, you're going to go away."  
  
A/N: Thanks for all reviews. And thanks to my beta-reader, Vinnie. 


	3. The journey and the arrival

Disclaimer: See chapter 1. This story belongs to Khari, I'm merely translating it  
  
3. The journey and the arrival.  
  
"WHAT!?" Harry cried. "TOMORROW!? But. it's very early, isn't it? I mean, Voldemort hasn't tried to kill me or anything like that."  
  
"Harry, it's not too early, and it's not true that Voldemort hasn't tried to kill you since last time. He just doesn't know where you are. But don't doubt that if you remain here it won't be long before he finds you and you'll be putting the Weasleys in danger."  
  
"Professor Dumbledore, I don't think you need to be so hard on him." Started Mrs. Weasley.  
  
"I understand," said Harry. "Very well, if I have to leave, I will; even if I still don't know where I'm going."  
  
"I'm sure you'll like it," nodded Dumbledore.  
  
"How can you be so sure?" He asked.  
  
"Because we're going to send you 25 years to the past." Said Dumbledore calmly.  
  
"WHAT!?" Shouted Harry, standing up abruptly. "You can't be serious."  
  
"Of course that I'm serious, Harry." Said Dumbledore completely calm. "Think about it logically; Voldemort wants you dead because he knows you're a dangerous rival, besides the fact that it's also a personal matter for having reduced him to a shadow for nearly fourteen years. But the Voldemort of 25 years ago doesn't know anything about this, by that time he's just starting to gain more and more power, he won't look twice towards a fifteen years old boy."  
  
"But. but then, Harry could change our history." Said Ron.  
  
"No." Assured Hermione. "Harry is only going to go there to protect himself from Voldemort, so he won't be able to change anything."  
  
"You knew!?" Cried both boys.  
  
"Of course I knew," said Hermione calmly. "Everyone knew. The only ones who didn't know were the two of you."  
  
"Why didn't you tell me?" protested Ron.  
  
"Easy, you would have told Harry, and it was supposed to be a surprise."  
  
"I wouldn't have told him!"  
  
"Of course you would have! You're completely unable to fool Harry, even if it's a surprise or for his own good."  
  
As always, Ron and Hermione started to argue, and as Harry watched them, he thought he was going to miss those arguments since he was so used to them; after all, he had often tried to stop them.  
  
"Harry, dear, I think it would be better if you went to bed." Said Mrs. Weasley.  
  
"Yes, but first, why don't you name the Redgly?" Said Charlie.  
  
"Ah, yes." Said Harry and started to think about it. "How about. Saïl?"  
  
"It's your pet," said Mr. Weasley, "you decide."  
  
"I think he likes it, right, Saïl?" Said Charlie.  
  
The small reptile spread its wings and slowly flew towards his owner's shoulder; after all, he had barely lived for two weeks, and gently he nudged his head against Harry's.  
  
"It seems that way." Nodded Hermione. "But I don't think Hedwig is going to like it much." She added, seeing as the owl hooted in annoyance.  
  
"Don't get angry, Hedwig," Said Harry as he approached the owl, "I'm not planning on replacing you for Saïl."  
  
Hedwig looked at Harry disbelieving, but just at that moment, the small dragon let itself fall at the owl's side and started to nudge her gently. Harry was about to get him out of Hedwig's glare but the owl surprised everyone by opening her wings and closing them around Saïl; without doubt, she was hugging him.  
  
"Well. I don't think you have to worry about that anymore, Harry." Said Charlie, seeing the owl's behaviour. "If I'm not mistaken, Hedwig has just adopted Saïl."  
  
Harry, Ron and Hermione went upstairs and to bed, due to what Harry would have to face the next day. Dumbledore stayed outside with the older Weasleys, along with Sirius and Remus, finishing the details of the journey Harry was going to start on the next day. Dumbledore wrote a long letter for the past Mr. Potter. It was nearly dawn when Professor Flitwick and Professor Snape joined them in the meeting.  
  
It was eight o'clock in the morning when Mrs. Weasley went up to Ron's room, where Harry, Ron and the twins were sleeping, to wake the first one up so he could start to get ready and then started to wake up the other sleeping people.  
  
"Stand aside, Saïl, I have to wake Harry up." She said when the small Redgly put itself in front of Mrs. Weasley to stop her from waking Harry. "I need to wake him up now, it's getting late." She said while gripping the small cub and pushing it aside. "Harry, dear, it's time to get up."  
  
"Mmmm. it's very early." Said the boy while turning around.  
  
"Mom, you're never going to wake him that way." Said Ron, looking amused, same as the twins, as they watched how she tried to wake him up. Saïl had waked them up.  
  
"No? Then how should I do it?" She questioned sceptically.  
  
"This way!" Said the three Weasley at the same time while they grabbed their pillows and hit Harry's face with them several times.  
  
"Ouch! Hey! What's going on!?" Said Harry, sitting up abruptly.  
  
"Oh, nothing." Smiled Fred.  
  
"It's just time for you to get up." Added George.  
  
"You really need to stop waking me up that way." Said Harry sleepily. "One day, you're going to kill me from the fright."  
  
After that, the four of them went downstairs to have breakfast and they all nearly had heart failures when they saw Professor Snape there, sitting at the kitchen table talking with Professor Dumbledore, Sirius, and Remus! The girls came down two minutes later, reacting the same way the boys had done.  
  
"Well, Harry." Started Dumbledore. "It's time. Do you have everything ready?"  
  
"Yes, sir." He said a bit down at the thought of leaving.  
  
"Ok, take this letter, you have to give it to your grandfather, Robert Potter." He said while giving him the parchment. "I have explained to him what's going on in that letter."  
  
"Good." He answered while taking the letter.  
  
****"Oh, yes! Something else." He said with a smile. "Yesterday, I didn't give you a proper present so here you go."  
  
Harry took a small box from Dumbledore's hands; when he opened it, he saw a small necklace with a golden pendant taking on the form of a lightning bolt with Saïl's name written across it in italics.  
  
"I thought your Redgly would need it."  
  
"Thank you, Professor." Said Harry while he placed the necklace around Saïl's neck.  
  
"Ah, yes! I knew I was forgetting something," added Dumbledore, as he handed Harry another letter. "Take this, it's a letter for my past-self; it says the same as the one to your grandfather."  
  
After Harry had put the letter to Dumbledore away, Professor Flitwick walked to him and gave him a small ring that would work as a special portkey. When Harry put it on his finger, he felt the familiar feeling of being lifted from the ground and started to whirl around. However, this time he didn't feel dizzy, and he didn't feel like screaming; it nearly felt like a walk. When he opened his eyes, he felt himself standing in front of a beautiful house. The house was three stories high, pretty big and had a beautiful garden. Looking around, he saw that all his things had arrived with him. He was about to go in, when a hand came to rest on his shoulder, startling him.  
  
"James Potter! What on earth have you done to Mrs. Hockins this time!" Said a woman's voice.  
  
When Harry turned around, he saw a woman with long, brown hair and bright blue eyes. When Harry opened his mouth to answer, he suddenly realized his story was very unbelievable, even if it was true.  
  
"Wait a second..." Said the woman, looking closely at him. "You're not my son. Who are you?"  
  
"Emmm... My name's Harry, I have a letter for your husband." He said, showing her the letter.  
  
"Let me see." She said while taking it. "It's from Albus Dumbledore! Ok... Harry, come in, please, in a moment you'll be able to talk with my husband."  
  
The woman gently led him inside the house with all his things following them at a wave from her wand. He looked around curiously. Once they had brought Harry's luggage inside, the woman led him to a room where a man with dark black, messy hair was reading the prophet.  
  
"Robert, there's a boy here with a letter from Dumbledore." Said the woman.  
  
"Thank you, July." Said the man while he looked up from the paper and looked straight at Harry. "James, what do you want now?"  
  
"So...sorry, but my name's Harry, sir, not James. I have a letter from Professor Dumbledore for you."  
  
"Good Lord,... you're nearly identical to my son James, I would even say you're the same age. How old are you?" Said Mr. Potter while looking Harry closely.  
  
"I'm fifteen, since yesterday."  
  
"Congratulations, Boy. You're nearly the same physique and age of my son; if someone had told me that, I wouldn't have believed them. You say you bring a letter from Dumbledore? Let me have a look."  
  
Harry gave him the letter Dumbledore had given him in his time, and sat down on the couch after a signal from Mrs. Potter. As they sat there, Mr. Potter opened the letter and started to read it silently; as he read it, he started to look more and more surprised and started to look at Harry from time to time before returning to the letter. When he finished, he stood up and hugged the boy tightly before his wife's surprised gaze. The woman curiously picked up the letter, and started to read.  
  
"My God." She said when she had finished reading and she went to hug Harry like her husband had done. "No wonder you look like our James... You're his son! Our grandson!"  
  
While she said that, she stroked his hair and kissed his cheek. The woman was giving him a lot of tender gestures, making Harry feel uncomfortable. After all, only Mrs. Weasley had ever done this kind of things.  
  
"But the matter that brings you here is very serious; Dumbledore's letter says you're Voldemort's main objective." Said Mr. Potter seriously. "Here he has just started to gain power, but in your time, he seems to be very dangerous, and very, very powerful."  
  
"Yes." Said Harry seriously. "Voldemort is really powerful. Everyone even fears saying his name; they usually call him 'You-Know-Who' or 'He-Who-Must- Not-Be-Named'. Very few people call him by his name."  
  
"You have done it." Pointed out Mrs. Potter.  
  
"I'm one of the few." Said Harry shrugging his shoulders. " Considering he as been after me for fourteen years, it's normal that I call him by his name." He added calmly.  
  
"That's true..." Said the woman, lifting his hair slightly leaving the scar in sight, and she brushed her fingers lightly over it.  
  
"Well, I'm not about to leave my grandson at that monster's mercy." Said Mr. Potter firmly. "You're going to stay here and you'll go with Ja... I mean your father, to Hogwarts."  
  
"You don't need to call him my father... it would be best if he didn't know I was his son."  
  
"Right, anyways, you'll be going to Hogwarts with him. We'll tell him you're his cousin, that your father is my brother and that you're staying with us for the time being because of health problems. So, you can not call me 'sir'."  
  
"Of course, Uncle Robert." Said Harry, smiling.  
  
Mr. Potter smiled at him and Mrs. Potter hugged him again. After that, she told him to follow her and he was led towards the third floor that contained two rooms. She went to one of the rooms and helped him to get settled in. She put Hedwig's cage near the window and seeing Saïl, she put him on Harry's bed (a king sized bed) and then he helped him to put his clothes and personal items in the dresser. A sound coming from the other room claimed their attention.  
  
"Be back in a moment, Harry." Said Mrs. Potter, leaving the room. "James Potter! You finally appear! What on earth have you done to Mrs. Hockins! She came by this morning to protest about you again!"  
  
"Me? Nothing, Mom." Said a voice, which sounded a lot like Harry's.  
  
"Don't lie to me! You and Sirius have pulled another one of your annoying pranks on her!" screamed Mrs. Potter. "What sort of an example you are!? And you had to do it today!"  
  
"What happens today?" He asked innocently.  
  
"Your cousin arrived today." Said Mrs Potter in a tired voice, like she had had to tell him this a lot of times. "I have told you a hundred of times... but since you never bother to listen to me..."  
  
"Yeah... well... it's just..."  
  
"Excuses, excuses." Said Mrs. Potter angrily. "Go downstairs! And I better not catch you pulling anything! I'll be down in a moment."  
  
After that, she returned to Harry's room; after closing the door, she smiled and continued putting everything in it's proper place. All the while, Harry stayed confused. How could his grandmother tell his father that she had told him he was coming when she had just discovered it that same day? As if reading his thought, she smiled at him.  
  
"Don't worry, Dear, James never listens to anything we say. We can tell him something and an hour later, ask him about it and he won't remember we told him anything because he just doesn't listen." She sighed. "That's why he couldn't say anything just now... he can't be sure we never told him." She laughed. "Now... how about we go downstairs and I introduce you to James? I'm sure you're anxious to see how he is in this time."  
  
"You have no idea." Said Harry sadly.  
  
"I understand it must be hard for you to leave your parents and friends behind. "Said Mrs. Potter, misunderstanding his tone. "I also understand how your parents must be feeling... If I had to let James go to another time, even if it was to save his life... it would be really hard for me."  
  
Harry looked at her surprised. For a moment, when she had looked at his scar, he had thought she knew that his parents were dead in his time. But it seemed that when Dumbledore had told them what had happened fourteen years ago -or a few years from now- without mentioning that James and Lily Potter would die to protect him, and that that had been what had saved him from Voldemort.  
  
When they arrived downstairs, they heard Robert Potter scold his son because he had pulled a few pranks on his neighbour. Luckily, she was a witch. He also scolded him for having received another report on him.  
  
"I don't understand why you do it. It's the same as at school. I have received so many owls about your behaviour that I don't understand how they have not expelled you, Sirius and your other friends, yet. What does everyone call you now? Ah, yes! The Marauders... You're nearly the terror of the school; I don't understand how comes it is still standing."  
  
"Robert, dear..." Said Mrs. Potter, gaining the attention of her husband and their son.  
  
Both turned towards them and while Mr. Potter smiled, James became deathly pale, with his jaw slack and his eyes as round as oranges. His mother laughed at his reaction; they really looked so much alike... Even she had had trouble recognizing him at first.  
  
"James, son, allow me to introduce to you your cousin Harry." Said Mrs. Potter. "Harry, this is our son, James."  
  
"Hello, my name's Harry Potter." Said Harry, extending his hand.  
  
"James Potter, please to meet you." Said the boy, shaking his hand.  
  
To be continued...  
  
A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta-reader, Vinnie. 


	4. A wonderful summer

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, and this story belongs to Khari, I'm only translating it.  
  
A wonderful summer  
  
Harry only needed about five minutes to become good friends with his father; just as everyone had told him, they were nearly the same, not only physically, but also in the way they acted. His father didn't ask many questions about how it came he had a cousin, which proved that Mrs. Potter was right in the fact that her son never listened. He also didn't ask why Harry was there, although Harry supposed it was because his parents had told him not to.  
  
"So, Harry, you're going to attend Hogwarts with me this term?" Asked James when they were in his room.  
  
"Yes, at least for this term." He answered. "Maybe longer."  
  
"Then you have to get into Gryffindor with my friends and me!" He cried happily. "You should see us... we play wonderful pranks on the Slytherins."  
  
"Tell me about your friends, who and how are they?"  
  
"Well, they're wonderful. There's Sirius Black, he's my best friend. He's a prankster, just as me, and he's a very good quidditch player, we've known each other since we were young. Then there's Remus Lupin, he's a very good friend too; he also loves pranks, but he doesn't play quidditch, he prefers to study. Even though he studies a lot, he's always there when you need him. And then there's Peter Pettigrew" Harry grimaced in disgust. "He isn't good in quidditch and he's not very good in his studies either, but he's always there when you need him and he's always ready to help when we want to play a prank on the Slytherins. The four of us together are called the Marauders. And then, there's Lily..."  
  
"Lily?" Smiled Harry.  
  
"Lily Evans... she... she's my girlfriend." Said James, blushing lightly, which made Harry smile.  
  
"Tell me about her." He said. "How is she?"  
  
"She's unique, she's smart, honest, generous, sweet..."  
  
"And beautiful?"  
  
"Yes, gorgeous. She has long red hair that falls around her like burning flames, her skin is as pale as porcelain and she has beautiful eyes, big and green as emeralds. And her smile... what a smile! She's able to make anyone happy with it."  
  
"I want to meet her." Said Harry in a soft voice.  
  
"You'll like her, you'll see." Nodded James. "Tell me about your friends."  
  
"Sure... I have two best friends..."  
  
A sound by the door drew their attention. Thinking that it might be Sky, his mother's cat, James got up to open it. He was very surprised when instead of the cat he expected, he saw a grass green coloured redgby pup. Before he had the chance to look at it more carefully, it flew past him and landed on Harry's legs.  
  
"Saïl! What's the matter? You missed me?" Said Harry while he rubbed his small pet under the jaw, who was moving his wings in delight.  
  
"You have a redgby!" Cried James. "Whoa, I have only seen them in a book about Care of Magical Creatures... they're very rare and valuable."  
  
"I know."  
  
"How comes you have one?"  
  
"One of the brothers of my best friend gave it to me for my birthday." Said Harry with a smile. "Don't think I've had him for long; they gave him to me yesterday."  
  
"It's beautiful!" Said James, while he looked closer at it. "That family must really care about you for them to give you something like this."  
  
"Yes, they are like my second family." He smiled while remembering about the Weasleys. "It will be a long time till I see them again... Maybe I won't be able to see them again." He added, thinking about Lord Voldemort.  
  
"Oh, come on... don't feel sad! You'll see them again. Come on... tell me about your friends, you said you had two."  
  
"Yes, I have two, a boy and a girl. His name is Ron, he's tall and a redhead, he's a great friend, you can always depend on him. He's the sixth of seven siblings, and he feels like he always has to compete with them because each one has done great things at school. The oldest is Bill, he was Head Boy, then Charlie was quidditch captain; Percy was Head Boy too and the twins, even if they are very mischievous, get good marks and everyone likes them. Oh and Ginny, the youngest, she's the first in her class."  
  
"Well, it seems he has a lot to do to match them."  
  
"Well, he's also very good. He's the best chess player in the whole school, and there's not been anyone better in many years. He even managed to win against the deputy-headmistress in a giant game! He also received Special Awards for Services to the School with me in our second year, something that they have only given to one other person."  
  
"Oh, then he has done more than his brothers!" Said James amazed. "What about your other friend?"  
  
"Her name is Hermione Granger. She's very smart and I'm sure she will be a prefect this year; she has always been the first in our class. The only bad thing is that she's very firm about keeping school rules. She doesn't like to break them, although, she's the first one to do so when it's important or because Ron and I are about to go on one of our adventures... but after that, we have to listen to her lectures... but oh well, she's a good girl."  
  
"You like her?" Said James mischievously.  
  
"Hermione? No! I only see her as a good friend. Ron is the one who likes her, even if he doesn't want to admit it."  
  
"Well, I would like to meet them sometime." Said James.  
  
"I have a picture if you want to see it."  
  
"Yes, yes... let me see."  
  
Harry took out the locket he had received the night before and gave it to James, who opened it and looked at the three fourteen-year-old teens. One of them was Harry, so the other one had to be Ron, while the girl had to be Hermione. The three of them were smiling and waving their hands, but a moment later, Ron and Hermione started what looked like to be an argument, which Harry attempted to stop and then he soon left, leaving the picture and his friends, who were still arguing.  
  
"It seems they argue a lot." Said James as he looked at the picture. "Are they always like this?"  
  
"Nearly always. At first, you try to get them to stop, but after a while, you grow tired of it and leave them on their own." He said calmly.  
  
James gave him the locket back and he seemed to be about to say something else when a sound by his window distracted him. He went to see who it was and motioned to whoever it was down there to come up to his room. Then he turned around and smiled at Harry.  
  
"We've a visitor." He told him smiling. "Get ready to meet Mr. Sirius Black."  
  
He hadn't even finished saying those words when someone knocked on his bedroom's door and opened it without waiting for an answer. A fifteen-year- old boy appeared; he had black hair, big blue eyes, and a large smile on his face. Before they could say anything, he ran to James and jumped on him, ruffling his hair.  
  
"James! I'm so happy to see you in one piece! I thought your parents were going to kill you for that prank we pulled on Mrs. Hockins! Did your father lecture you? Because you should have seen my mother, she looked like she was about to burst!"  
  
"No, thanks to a visitor, they didn't say much." Said James while he tried to keep his glasses on his nose.  
  
"Visitor? What visitor?" Said Sirius taking his glasses.  
  
"The one that stands behind you, Black, and give me back those glasses!"  
  
"Here you go." He said giving him the glasses and turning around. "James, there's a copy of you in the room!" Cried Sirius.  
  
"It's not a copy, idiot! It's my cousin!"  
  
"Your cousin?"  
  
"Hello, my name's Harry Potter." Said Harry smiling sticking out his hand.  
  
"Oh, sorry. I'm Sirius Black." The other boy said while shaking his hand. "The grand Sirius Black!"  
  
"Come on, Sirius, don't start." Said James rolling off the bed.  
  
"Don't start what?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "Say Harry, how long will you stay here?"  
  
"All this term, maybe even longer. So this year I'm coming to Hogwarts with you."  
  
"Wonderful! Do you like playing pranks?"  
  
"Of course, what a question."  
  
Harry walked out of James' room and went to pick up something in his own room. When he came back a few minutes later (followed by Saïl) he was carrying a box that didn't seem to be very big.  
  
"Look at this." He said opening the box. "They are all pranks."  
  
"Wow! There are a lot!" cried James while looking inside the box.  
  
"I've never seen anything like this one, nor this one, nor this. Erm, then again, I've never seen any of these." Said Sirius. "Where did you get them?"  
  
"They were a birthday present." He smiled. "I have friends who wants to open a joke's shop once they are out of school, so they have been experimenting with these. I don't even know what most of them are."  
  
"Hey, look! Cream cookies!" Said Sirius picking one up and starting to eat it.  
  
"Noo!" Shouted Harry, trying to warn him.  
  
Too late. Harry's cry only startled him and he ate the cream quickly. Harry and James heard a small puff and where Sirius had been standing, there was now a big canary. James couldn't help but start laughing at seeing that, same as Harry. A few seconds later, all the feathers fell on the floor and Sirius appeared again, who, after the shock, had started to laugh too.  
  
"I'm sorry," said Harry, still laughing, "I tried to warn you, because I had seen these before, but you were too fast."  
  
"What are they?" Asked James as he looked at one of the cookies.  
  
"They are Canary Creams, my friends had already made them last year and they filled the school with them."  
  
"God... these pranks are wonderful!" Said Sirius. "Imagine all the things we can do to Snape with them. Can you imagine that, James?"  
  
"Yes..." Said James in a dreaming voice.  
  
"Snape?" Asked Harry with a raised eyebrow, the idea seemed to interest him.  
  
"He's a damn Slytherin, a real bastard. He's always trying to find a way to get us expelled." Said Sirius with a shudder. "That's why he and his friends are our main objective."  
  
"Well... that sounds really interesting." Said Harry. "I hope you don't mind if I join you."  
  
"Of course not!" Said James.  
  
"Wonderful! Another Marauder!" Cried Sirius.  
  
The days passed, and Harry had a lot of fun with James and Sirius arranging things for school and playing pranks, but they always reserved Harry's pranks for when they would be able to use them on Snape. That summer was the second summer in which Harry didn't go to Diagon Alley, (his grandparents went to get his things for him) but he really didn't mind.  
  
The day before he had to go to Hogwarts, he drew a bit away from all the activity he had been taking part until then. He started remembering the other years. Usually, by the last day of the holidays, Ron and Hermione were already with him so they would be able to take the Express together. The idea that that year that wouldn't happen made him sad and he was pretty out of it for the whole day, which worried Mr. and Mrs. Potter, James, and Sirius. They became even more worried when he went to bed early.  
  
'I miss them.' Thought Harry while he lay on his bed.  
  
That's when a sudden thought came to him and he started to look through his clothes for the locket the twins had given him for his birthday. It was a good to try it out. Once he had it in his hands, he tried to calm down and opened it. Carefully, he brushed his finger against Ron's name and his heart began to beat faster as he waited.  
  
The locked started to shine brightly and a few seconds later, an image started to appear, slowly; the features of the red-haired boy he knew so well started to form.  
  
"HARRY!!" Cried the image.  
  
"Hey, Ron." Said Harry in a low voice to his friend.  
  
"It's about time you called us! We were starting to think something had happened to you!"  
  
"Shhhhhh! Don't talk so loud or they will hear you." He lectured.  
  
"Sorry. How are you doing, Harry?"  
  
"I'm fine, don't worry about me. My grandparents and my father are great and I'm having lots of fun with my father."  
  
"Give it here, Ron! I want to talk to Harry!" A voice said from behind Ron; there was a small struggle and then Hermione's face appeared. "Harry! I'm so glad you're okay!"  
  
"Hello, Hermione, how are you doing?"  
  
"Very good! You know what? They made me a prefect!"  
  
"Congratulations, I'm very happy for you. You should be happy."  
  
"I'm very happy." She smiled. "Harry, Ron and I have to ask you for a small favour."  
  
"What? I'll try to do it, but from here, there's not much I can do."  
  
"I want you to remember and tell us all the pranks you've played with the Marauders so we can play them on Malfoy."  
  
"Hermione! Are you sure you're alright?" Said Harry in a scared voice.  
  
"Of course I'm alright."  
  
"But, you're asking me about pranks."  
  
"Well." said Hermione, blushing a bit. "This year you're not going to be here. and well, I thought this term might be a bit boring and. well. I'm sure you understand."  
  
"Yes, I understand. Don't worry, I'll tell you everything."  
  
"Thanks! We should go to bed now; we have to get up early tomorrow. Good night, Harry."  
  
"Good night, Ron, Hermione." With that, Harry closed the locket and went to bed feeling better then before.  
  
To be continued...  
  
A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to Vinnie, my wonderful beta-reader ^.^ 


	5. The Hogwarts express

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. I don't even own the story, I'm just translating it from Khari.  
  
5. The Hogwarts Express.  
  
The next day, Harry felt s gently hand shake him to wake up. When he opened his eyes, he saw July Potter's kind face hovering over him with a smile.  
  
"Good morning, Harry. It's time to get up."  
  
"Good morning, Grandmother. How late is it?"  
  
"It's eight in the morning. Quick, breakfast is ready, and if you want to eat anything you'll have to come down before James eats everything."  
  
"Ok, I'll be down in a second."  
  
July walked out of the room and went down to the kitchen, where he son was already stuffing himself with breakfast. At first, she smiled at the boy's hunger, but her expression quickly changed.  
  
"James, if you keep this up, you won't leave anything for Harry." She lectured.  
  
"Well, he should have come down earlier." He said swallowing the food he had in his mouth.  
  
"James, you know very well that I allowed him to sleep a bit more because I was worried about him."  
  
"How is he doing?" He asked, looking up from his breakfast.  
  
"It's seems he's doing better, he looked like he was feeling happier."  
  
"Who is happier?" Asked Harry from behind.  
  
"Oh, Harry dear, you got up," she smiled. "Come on, sit down and eat breakfast."  
  
"Who were you talking about?" Asked Harry.  
  
"One of father's friends." Said James, quickly. "He has been pretty depressed for a few days."  
  
Harry nodded and sat down to eat what was left, since James had practically devoured everything. When he finished ten minutes later, Mr. Potter appeared through the door and told them to get ready.  
  
"Come on, boys, we need to get going. Are the trucks packed?"  
  
"Yes, I took care of them myself last night." Answered July.  
  
"Let's go, then." Said Robert forcefully. "Everyone, get in the car."  
  
"And Sirius?" Asked James. "Isn't he coming with us?"  
  
"No, his father will take him." Answered his father.  
  
They all made their way to the car that was in front of the house and, after loading the trunks, quickly went in and started their way to King Cross so the boys could take the train.  
  
When they reached the station, they noticed it was full of people. No one seemed to notice that slowly, people disappeared through the barrier between 9 and 10. Harry was very calm; this was very easy, the hard part was trying to do it so no muggles would notice.  
  
"You'll see, Harry. It's very easy. You don't need to worry about anything. To reach the place you just need to..."  
  
But James never had the chance to finish his explanation because Harry calmly walked through the barrier with his trunk. James quickly ran after him, followed by his parents. Harry was waiting at them on the other side.  
  
"How did you know?" Asked James. "How did you know what you had to do to reach platform 9 3/4?"  
  
"My parents told me." Answered Harry.  
  
"I see... you could have told me! Then I wouldn't have had to explain."  
  
"I'm sorry. I didn't think you were going to explain it."  
  
"Well, it doesn't matter." Said Mrs. Potter. "Don't you have to pick a compartment on the train?"  
  
"Right!" Said James. "Let's go, Harry."  
  
"Go ahead, James. I need to talk to Harry for a moment." Mr. Potter said.  
  
James nodded and started to walk away from his parents, while Harry remained at their side. When they couldn't see him anymore, Robert Potter looked down at Harry seriously.  
  
"Harry, I send that letter to Professor Dumbledore, and this morning, I received his answer."  
  
"What did it say?"  
  
"He said that he understood how important the situation was and that he would be careful. He also told me that you were to follow James to the school instead of going with the first years. Professor McGonagall will be waiting for you and she'll take you to talk to him."  
  
"Ok, I was already expecting something like this." Harry said, calmly.  
  
"Very well, let's go look for James." Smiled Mrs. Potter.  
  
"Should we go together?" Said a voice coming from behind them.  
  
When they turned around, they saw Sirius Black standing there, smiling as always. At his side stood a tall man, with bright blue eyes and dark hair, just like his son.  
  
"John! I'm so happy to see you again!" Said Mr. Potter.  
  
"Hey, Robert! How's everything going?" Greeted the other man.  
  
"Fine, just as always. How did your trip to Spain go?"  
  
"Oh, very well. You know that the people there are very cheerful and kind. What about you, James? Aren't you going to greet me?"  
  
"No, Dad, that's not James." Corrected Sirius. "He's Harry."  
  
"John, allow me to introduce to you my nephew, Harry Potter. Harry, this is John Black, Sirius' father."  
  
"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Black."  
  
"Let's go Harry, before anyone else thinks you're your cousin." Said Sirius, starting to drag him away.  
Both boys walked away from the adults, and started to look for James. They found him near the end of the train, in an empty compartment, where he had already placed his trunk. When he saw them, he brightly greeted Sirius, while Harry entered the compartment to place his luggage in it. A few moments later, Harry heard noise coming from outside the compartment.  
  
When he looked out of the window, he saw that James and Sirius were standing with two other boys, who he recognized as the other two Marauders. He thought it was better to remain inside so he wouldn't have to speak with Peter, but James had other ideas.  
  
"Hey, Harry! Come out here, they want to meet you!" Shouted James.  
  
"Ok, ok." Said Harry while he walked out. "You could have given me some time to place my things on the train in peace."  
  
When Harry raised his gaze, he couldn't help but smile at the look on Remus' and Peter's face. They were priceless! Even so, he walked till he was standing next to James, so they could see how much they looked like.  
  
"Remus, Peter, allow me to introduce to you my cousin, Harry. Harry, these are Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew." Said James, pointing at each boy in turn.  
  
"Hey." Said Harry while shacking their hands, even if he was a bit reserved with Peter. "I was looking forward to meeting you."  
  
"Us too. James and Sirius have told us a lot about you." Said Remus, turning around to face the other two boys. "You had told me they looked alike, but we didn't think they would look so much alike. They could easily pass as twins!"  
  
"Yeah, they really do look alike. When Harry arrived, for a moment, I even thought he was James." Said July Potter, appearing next to them with the other parents.  
  
"Is everyone already here?" Asked Robert Potter.  
  
"No! Lily isn't here yet!"  
  
Everyone started to laugh at James' worried words; they knew very well that the two lovebirds were very much in love. Harry's mere existence proved it. It was a pity that only Harry and his grandparents knew that.  
  
"Don't worry about Lily, James. I don't think she'll take much longer to get here. It would be better if you already got on the train." Said his mother. After her words, everyone started to get in the train. "Wait, Harry, I want to speak with you for a moment."  
  
"Of course, Aunt July."  
  
Once all the children were inside and the other adults had gone to stand next to the window, July came closer to Harry and hugged him gently.  
  
"Harry, do you want us to look for a way to tell your parents that you're alright?"  
  
"Don't worry, Grandmother." Answered Harry with a smile. "I have my ways to tell my loved ones that I'm alright. In fact, I've already done it."  
  
"Okay, honey, then take care."  
  
Harry climbed into the train and smiled when he saw that James was very nervous because Lily hadn't arrived yet. Then, bright red hair drew his attention and calmly, he turned towards his future father.  
  
"Say, James, is Lily a red-haired girl with green eyes?"  
  
"Yes, how did you know?" Answered his father.  
  
"I just saw her entering the train."  
  
As if hearing his words, the door to the compartment opened and a smiling Lily appeared. She quickly ran to hug James, who returned the hug. When they drew away, everyone started to laugh at their flushed faces, and from outside, even their parents were laughing.  
  
"I think that James is going to be more relaxed now." Laughed his father.  
  
"I think so." Nodded his mother, and as the train whistled, she added. "Well, boys, we'll see you during the holidays, be good, and James, do take care of your cousin."  
  
"Don't worry, Mum, I'll take care of Harry. Bye." Said James while the train started to move.  
  
"Bye!" Said all the marauders while waving back at their parents.  
  
When the station was out of sight, everyone went to sit in the different seats of the compartment. It was then, that Lily saw the silent Harry.  
  
"You must be Harry, am I right?" Said Lily with a large smile.  
  
"Yes, and you're Lily, James' girlfriend. I'm happy to meet you." He answered shaking her hand with a smile on his lips.  
  
"Same here. You know, it's weird to see someone who looks so much like James, even if you're family."  
  
"I know; it's weird to me too. They had always told me we looked alike, but I didn't realize how much until we met."  
  
"You mean you hadn't seen each other until this summer?" Asked Remus, surprised.  
  
"Right." Said James. "To tell the truth, I didn't even know I had a cousin."  
  
"Well, it's not like they haven't told you before," told Harry, while James started to blush.  
  
Everyone started to laugh while James became even more uncomfortable. They quickly became good friends and they were just opening a bag of Bertie Botts, when the door to their compartment opened and a blond boy, with pale skin appeared. He was joined with three other boys; one of them had black, greasy, hair. Harry didn't need anyone to tell him who they were, he immediately recognised them as Snape, Lucius Malfoy and Crabe and Goyle's fathers.  
  
"Well, look who we have here." Said Lucius Malfoy, in the same tone of voice his son usually used. "Potter and his worthless friends."  
  
"Shut up, Malfoy." Said James in an angry voice.  
  
"What's the matter, Potter?" Said Snape. "You don't like being told the truth, do you? That's why you don't like that we call you, your friends, and that mudblood, worthless."  
  
Before anyone could answer, Harry had already his wand out and was pointing it dangerously at his future potions instructor.  
  
"Take that back." Harry said in a soft, cold voice.  
  
"And who are you? Another Potter without doubt. I didn't know you had a twin brother," he said to James, "but that's ok, he's probably also worthless."  
  
Harry didn't even have the time to pronounce a curse. Saïl, who had been sleeping in one of his master's pockets, poked his head out of it and threw a fireball that made the four boys flee.  
  
"Wow, Harry, you were scary." Said James.  
  
"He's right, you have taught them a lesson." Added Remus  
  
"Yes, but you shouldn't have done it. you could have got into trouble. I don't care what they call me." Said Lily.  
  
"I do." Said Harry. "My mother was muggle born and so is my best friend. I don't like people insulting muggle borns."  
  
They didn't talk about it anymore, but the other boys saw how Harry became even more quiet and withdrawn as they neared Hogwarts.  
  
"Harry." Said James, after a while.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"We are here."  
  
To be continued...  
  
A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta-reader, Vinnie. 


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.  
  
Talks with Dumbledore.  
  
Harry climbed out of the train and looked around. Everything was the same he remembered from his own time, and he smiled brightly when he saw Hagrid's big figure standing over the first year students. His smile became larger when he saw the giant turn towards them and greet the marauders.  
  
"Aren't you going to go with Hagrid?" Asked Lily, while she looked as the giant disappeared towards the lake with the scared students in tow.  
  
"No. James' father wrote to the Headmaster and he said I had to go to the school with you."  
  
Together, they got into the first carriage they saw and they made their way to the castle. Just as he had done during the last part of the journey, Harry stayed completely silent, worrying the marauders. Harry's mind couldn't help but remember the last happenings he had gone through in the school. Specially the final feast, when he saw Cho crying, while everyone else raised their cups in Cedric's honour, who had been the first of Voldermort's victims after his return. And before he could help it, he thought once again about the time the bright green light had hit his Hufflepuff friend and how he had fallen down, dead. In his mind, Voldermort's laugh rang clearly. Harry closed his eyes while his body shuddered slightly at those memories.  
  
"Harry, are you alright?"  
  
James' concerned voice made him return to the real world and jumping slightly, he opened his eyes. He saw five worried pairs of eyes looking at him and he put up a strained smile, trying to reassure them.  
  
"Don't worry, I'm fine."  
  
"But you're very pale." Said Lily, carefully.  
  
"Really, I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me, I was just remembering something unpleasant."  
  
The others didn't seem to believe him, but since they had just arrived at the school, they couldn't push the matter. All Marauders were startled when they saw Professor McGonagall standing at the entrance door. They were no the only surprised students, everyone else was wondering why their teacher was there.  
  
"I suppose you're the young Potter, aren't you?" Said the professor while coming closer.  
  
"That's right." Answered Harry.  
  
"Would you be so kind to come with me, Mr. Potter.?"  
  
Harry nodded towards the others and followed the professor through the hallways, knowing very well where she was leading him. He wasn't mistaken. Professor McGonagall stopped in front of a horrible gargoyle, whom started to move when she spoke the password. They walked up the stairs together and knocked on the door.  
  
"Come in."  
  
***************************  
  
The marauders looked worriedly as Harry walked away with their Transfiguration's teacher. Since Harry had had that confrontation with Snape he had been very quiet, as if something was bothering or worrying him. But even if they had been worried, they had stayed silent. When he had become pale and had seen him shudder, not even James had been able to keep his curiosity at bay, even if Harry hadn't wanted to answer them.  
  
"I'm worried." Said James.  
  
"Yes, he's doing worse than yesterday." Agreed Sirius. "And I thought he was better when I saw him this morning."  
  
"He was doing better." Affirmed James. "Something must have happened to make him react this way."  
  
"By the way, James." Started Remus. "You didn't tell us why Harry was here. Maybe if we knew, we would be able to understand his reactions better."  
  
"Right, you never told me." Said Sirius.  
  
"I would tell you, but I don't know."  
  
"You don't?!?!" Asked four voices at once.  
  
"No. My parents didn't want to tell me, and they forbade me to ask Harry."  
  
"But, they didn't say anything?"  
  
"Well, yes. They said he had health problems, but when they forbade me to ask Harry, they kind of made it clear that that wasn't true."  
  
"Well, whatever it is, I think the headmaster knows." Said Lily.  
  
********** When Harry and Professor McGonagall came in Professors Dumbledore office, he couldn't help but think that no time had passed and that it was still the night after the third task. That thought made him shiver lightly. There, sitting behind his desk, was professor Dumbledore, looking much younger but with the same kind smile on his face.  
  
"Welcome, Harry. Please, sit down."  
  
Harry walked closer so he could sit in one of the chairs, but he had barely taken a few steps when he felt someone hugging him from behind and someone else patting his back. As well as he could, he turned around and his eyes became huge when he saw who it was.  
  
"Ron! Hermione! What are you doing here?"  
  
"Surprise!" Said both of them at the same time.  
  
"But... but..."  
  
"Please, if the three of you would be so kind as to sit down, we will be able to talk." Said Dumbledore, obviously amused.  
  
Harry, Ron and Hermione sat down in front of the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall. Ron and Hermione seemed to be very happy and excited while Harry was just confused.  
  
"Well..." Started Dumbledore. "I had thought you would be able to explain about those two teens, Harry, but I think you're just as confused as I am." Harry nodded while Ron and Hermione tried to hid their laughter. "Well, we'll talk about this later, right now you're more important. The letter that Mr. Potter send me from my future self said that you were here to protect yourself from Voldemort, is that right?"  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
"Ok, it seems you should start your fifth year. And even if the letter says you're a Gryffindor, would you mind if we sorted you again?"  
  
"No, sir."  
  
"Good, now that that's arranged, I think that the two of you owe us an explanation."  
  
"Yes, sir." Started Hermione. "My name's Hermione Granger and he is Ron Weasley. Harry is our best friend." Dumbledore nodded, indicating she should continue. "At the end of term last year He who must not be named came back after 14 years, but he did it with a spell that made Harry vulnerable to him."  
  
"Yes, that's what the letter said."  
  
"You saw that the protections that had always been around him would not be enough and so you decided you would send him to a time where He who must not be named was not a danger to him." Continued Ron. "And so you did, and Harry was send here."  
  
"From the moment Harry disappeared, both, Ron and I started to insist that we wanted to be with him, because even if James Potter is his father, we are his friends."  
  
"We insisted for a whole month, and yesterday we finally were allowed to come, so here we are, ready to stay with Harry till the end."  
  
"Hey! Wait a minute, I spoke with the two of you yesterday. You could have told me." Cried Harry.  
  
"And ruin our surprise?" Asked Hermione.  
  
"Never." Said the two of them in one voice.  
  
Dumbledore looked at the three teens standing in front of him. Yes, it seemed that they had lived many adventures together and that their friendship had reached unsuspecting limits. He couldn't help but smile, thinking that the three of them were very lucky to have such great friends.  
  
"Well, it seems everything is in order, we should be going to the great hall. There you'll be sorted again. Ok?"  
  
"Yes, sir." Answered the three of them together.  
  
"Good. Minerva, will you take them with you?"  
  
"Yes, please follow me, you three." Said Professor McGonagall.  
  
The Professor led them through the halls until they reached the room their remembered from their first year. There, the first years were already waiting for them. They all seemed to be very scared and the three teens felt a bit sorry for them. They would have wanted to tell them that they only had to put on a hat to be sorted, but that would have drawn a bit of attention.  
  
Once Professor McGonagall had finished her speech, she started to lead them towards the great hall. Just before they got into the room, she asked that the three of them stayed there until they were called.  
  
"Ron, do you still have the locked?" Asked Harry once McGonagall had left.  
  
"No," said the other boy while shaking his head. "I gave it to my brothers, so we will still be able to know what happens at the school. Why?"  
  
"I was just wondering."  
  
In the Great Hall, the sorting had ended and everyone was waiting impatiently for the feast to start. The Marauders were still worried because Harry had disappeared. Everyone was already looking towards their plates anxiously when the Headmaster stood up, drawing everyone's attention.  
  
"I know all of you want to eat a bit, but before that I have to tell you something. During at least this year we're going to have a few exchange students coming from Salem's school of wizardry, from the United States." All students began to talk excitedly. "So first we'll have to sort them, don't you think?"  
  
"Well, now we know where Harry was." Said Lily.  
  
"Yes, but why was he talking in plural?" Asked Remus.  
  
"No idea." Answered James and Sirius at the same time.  
  
Just at that moment, the doors that lead to the great hall opened and three teens calmly walked towards Professor McGonagall.  
  
"But those are Ron and Hermione!" Cried James.  
  
"Who?" Asked the other four.  
  
"Harry's best friends!" Said James surprised, while he watched as the approached their professor. "Harry talked to me about them; he even showed me a picture from the three of them, but he didn't tell me they would also be coming here!"  
  
McGonagall's voice made him shut up.  
  
"When I call you, you will put on the hat and you will be sorted to one of the houses. Hermione Granger."  
  
Hermione approached the hat calmly and put it on. A few seconds later, the hat shouted loud and clear: 'gryffindor.' And with a smile she walked towards the Gryffindor table, saying 'see you in a minute to her friends'. She sat down just in front of the Marauders and turned around so she could see the sorting.  
  
"Harry Potter." Said Professor McGonagall.  
  
Harry, who was just as calm as Hermione, walked towards the hat, steeling himself to have an argument with it.  
  
"Well, well,. so you are Harry. you really are a lot like your father, did you know that?" Said the hat.  
  
"Yes, that's what everyone says."  
  
"Well, lets see, what house should you be in. in the future I wanted to put you in Slytherin, and I see I had plenty of reason, but."  
  
"But?"  
  
"You've proved you're a Gryffindor to the bone, you even managed to pull out Godric Gryffindor's sword, so." "Gryffindor!"  
  
Harry stood up and following Hermione's lead, he told Ron he would see him in a minute. He sat down next to Hermione and after smiling towards the marauders, he turned around to watch Ron's sorting. A few minutes later, Ron sat down next to Harry.  
  
"Very well, guys, I knew you would make it!" Cried Hermione.  
  
"Was there ever any doubt?" Answered both boys at once.  
  
The three looked at each other and started to laugh. The Marauders were torn between confusion at their antics and relieve that Harry was doing better.  
  
"Say Harry, you never told me that your friends would be coming too." Said James.  
  
"But I didn't know!" Answered Harry with a big smile. "I just found out when I saw them in Dumbledore's office."  
  
"Well, Harry, aren't you going to introduce us?" Said Ron while resting his head on his friend's shoulder.  
  
"Maybe, if you stop leaning on me."  
  
"Ok, ok, I won't lean against you, and now?"  
  
"These are Ron and Hermione, my best friends. Guys there are my cousin James, his girlfriend Lily Evans, and his friends Sirius Black and Remus Lupin,. oh," he added flatly. "and Peter Petigrew."  
  
The Marauders were a bit surprised. Harry and his friends had been smiling all the way through the introductions, but they started to scowl when Peter was introduced. That was very strange, after all. what could Peter have done to them? 


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. In this case I don't even own the story, I'm only translating it. If you want to read the Spanish version, go to Khari.  
  
7. - Lessons and secrets which aren't secrets.  
  
Harry enjoyed the feast just as much as any other he had attended. While they ate, Ron and Hermione told him about what had been happening back at home. Harry couldn't help but laugh happily with Ron and Hermione while they told him about the pranks the twins had pulled on their brother, Percy.  
  
"I would have love to see Percy's face... I bet he was very angry!" Said Harry while laughing.  
  
"Not really... Would you believe he took it well?" Said Ron.  
  
"Really?" Said Harry surprised. "And to what do we owe that change?"  
  
"No idea."  
  
Dumbledore stood up, and after a few words, sent them on their way towards the common rooms. Everyone stood up and followed the different prefects of their houses, for Gryffindor, they were James and Lily.  
  
"It seems that Harry's doing much better now that his friends are with him." Said Remus while he looked towards where Harry and his companions were joking and laughing.  
  
"Yes, but I don't think he was that way just because he missed them." Said Sirius.  
  
"I think those two know what is going on with him; they just know how to make him feel better." Assured James. "And I swear I will find out what's wrong."  
  
They reached the Fat Lady, and after Lily said the password everyone went in. James pointed to where the boys' bedrooms were and Lily towards the girls' and everyone went up so they could go to sleep. Harry and Ron were happy to see that their beds were in the same place as at home and, without saying much, went to sleep.  
  
About an hour later, both Ron and Harry got up and went down to the common room, where Hermione was already waiting for them, comfortably seated on one of the couches.  
  
"You're late." Was the only thing she said without turning around.  
  
"We're sorry, but we had to make sure they were asleep."  
  
"Don't worry about it." Smiled Hermione, turning around. "Do you have it with you, Harry?"  
  
"Of course!"  
  
Harry searched through his robes, and after a moment, he pulled out the locket and showed it to his friends. He opened it and passed a finger over one of the covers. A few moments later, two new voices were heard through the common room.  
  
"Hey, Harry!"  
  
"Hello Fred, hello George. How's everything going?"  
  
"Fine, but there's been a few problems when the student body noticed you weren't here. I think many of them thought that you had been attacked, Harry, and that you hadn't come out of it alive." Said Fred's picture.  
  
"Right, everyone was really nervous about that. And the way Malfoy was acting wasn't really helping."  
  
"What did the headmaster say?" Asked Ron.  
  
"He didn't say much, only that this year, you won't be coming to this school and that it's not sure you'll be attending here next year either. He didn't get into details." Said Fred.  
  
"So, no one suspects where we are?" Asked Hermione.  
  
"No."  
  
"Good, that way it will be safe for us for a while." Said Harry pensively. "Do you know anything from Snuffles?"  
  
"Not really, just the same as Ron and Hermione; he is gathering the old crowd." Said Fred.  
  
"You should call him, he will be worried about you, Harry." Added Fred.  
  
"Okay, don't worry, I will." Said Harry. "If you see him, tell him we said 'hi'."  
  
"Harry!" Shouted Fred before the boy had a chance to close the locket.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Do you mind if we tell our other friends about where you are?"  
  
"If the headmaster agrees, I don't mind."  
  
"See you soon."  
  
Harry closed the locket and they looked towards the fireplace. From the stairs, the Marauders and Lily had seen everything that had happened, wondering what it all was about. Before the trio could notice, they went back to their rooms, knowing that the next day they would talk about it.  
  
Not much later, the trio also walked up the stairs. Harry had barely the time to close his eyes before falling asleep.  
  
It seemed he had just fallen asleep when he felt something soft hit him, which caused him to wake up rather abruptly. When he looked around, trying to make out what had woken him up, he saw Ron laughing at his bedside, holding a pillow in his hands.  
  
"Ron!" He shouted angrily.  
  
"Good morning, Harry." Was his only answer.  
  
"Why on earth did you wake me up that way?"  
  
"Because it's funny." Laughed Ron.  
  
"Funny, eh?" He said with an evil smirk.  
  
"Harry, what are you thinking about?" Said Ron a bit nervously.  
  
"You'll see in a second."  
  
A moment later, Harry had jumped out of his bed and was chasing Ron around the room. Even if Ron had longer legs than him, Harry was much faster, and he was able to keep up with his friend, hitting him with a pillow while they ran. The Marauders were laughing very hard, trying to get out of the way when the two approached them.  
  
When they finally tired out, they got dressed and went down to the Great Hall to have breakfast. The girls were already there, talking about their schedules. They smiled up at them when they sat down.  
  
"How did it go? Did you sleep well?" Asked Lily.  
  
"Oh, we slept very well, but you should be asking about waking up. Shouldn't she, Harry?" Laughed Sirius.  
  
"Oh, shut up."  
  
"Ron, please tell me you haven't hit Harry awake again?"  
  
"Ok, I won't tell you." Answered the boy.  
  
"Ron! If you keep this up you'll kill him before..." Seeing Harry's glare, Hermione shut up at once.  
  
"Before what?" Asked Remus.  
  
"Nothing, nothing." She said nervously, turning back to her breakfast.  
  
Five minutes later, Harry, Ron, and Hermione got up and walked out, already heading to Charms. The Marauders watched them go and turned so they could speak with each other.  
  
"This is all very strange. It's like the three of them are hiding a big secret about Harry." Said Lily.  
  
"Yes, they are. Did you see Harry's face when Hermione said that? It was nearly the same as it was yesterday after our meeting with Snape." Assured James.  
  
"I wish I knew what it was. Do you remember what happened last night?" Asked Remus.  
  
"Of course!" Said Sirius. "They were speaking through that strange thing with people from their other school. It seems that the fact that they are not there is giving them some problems."  
  
"Those two boys were speaking about how everyone thought Harry had been attacked. It seems that no one knows where they are." Said Lily.  
  
"It looks like they are hiding Harry so they can protect him." Concluded James.  
  
"But protecting him from what? Or from whom?" Asked Remus.  
  
"No idea... And who do you think is Snuffles? It's a strange name for a person." Wondered Sirius.  
  
"Erm, we should get going to class before we're late." Said Lily suddenly.  
  
The Marauders had to run to Charms class so they wouldn't late. The trio was already there and had picked seats for everyone. Not a moment later, the professor came in, ready to teach his lesson. He climbed until he was on the usual books and looked around the class, who was looked at him intently.  
  
"Good Morning, Class. Today, we'll start studying magical duelling." Started Professor Flitwick. "We'll start with the easiest curse, the disarming curse. Could anyone tell me what it does?"  
  
At once, Harry, Ron, and Hermione raised their hands to answer, which surprised everyone else.  
  
"Yes, Weasley?"  
  
"The disarming curse is used to take the wand from your opponent, sir."  
  
"Correct, Mr. Weasley. Five points to Gryffindor. Who thinks they can manage the curse?" Once again the three hands shot into the air. "Why don't you try, Miss Granger?"  
  
"Yes, sir." Said Hermione while standing up.  
  
"When I say 'three'. One, two, three."  
  
"Expelliarmus!" Cried Hermione quickly, before Professor Flitwick had the chance to say anything.  
  
She had just spoken the spell when the professor's wand flew neatly into her outstretched hand. Everyone clapped at her performance, and the professor looked at her surprised.  
  
"The three of you had done this before, right?"  
  
"Yes, sir." Said the three at the same time.  
  
"Could I know under which circumstances you were taught it? The duelling curses are usually not taught until you reach fifth year."  
  
"During our second year there was a duelling club at school, and we were learned it there." Answered Hermione.  
  
"Then you'll know all about the curses..."  
  
"No, sir, there were a few... problems... there was only a session." Said Harry.  
  
"Problems? Which kind of problems?"  
  
"A giant serpent nearly ripped the head off from one of our friends." Said Ron as if it was normal. "After that, no one was in the mood to hold another session."  
  
"Emmm... ok, form pairs and practice the spell." Said Flitwick a bit unnerved.  
  
The whole class paired up and they started the practice. Harry was paired with Ron, and Hermione went with Lily. Quickly, wands started to fly around the classroom, but without doubt the one that flew the most was Ron's.  
  
"I give up!" He said after Harry had disarmed him for the sixteenth time. "There's no way to disarm you! You're always quicker than I am, and if I manage to say it at the same time you do, you're always stronger."  
  
"Oh, come on, Ron" Smiled Harry. "You're doing fine, you just have to be a bit quicker."  
  
"Sure, but you have had much more practice than I." Said Ron sadly.  
  
"Harry has done this charm more times than anyone here, Ron." Assured Hermione. "He also has had more chances to try it."  
  
The Marauders glanced at each other, torn between interest and confusion. If they had believed that Hermione and Ron knew what was wrong with Harry, they now knew for sure. They would have to talk with them the next chance they got.  
  
After that lesson, they had Herbology with Professor Sprout. To Harry, Ron, and Hermione, it seemed like they were at home, the same teachers, the same places, the only difference were the students, but that was easy to accept. With the Marauders close to them, it was very easy to have a good time, especially because they were always up to something.  
  
After having lunch, they had potions with the Slytherins, and while the Marauders were planning one of their pranks, Ron, Harry, and Hermione couldn't help but become depressed, remembering the potions class in their time.  
  
"It will be wonderful!" Shouted Sirius. "I just have to see this!"  
  
"The difficulty will be to reach them. You're going to help us, won't you, Harry?"  
  
"Mmh?"  
  
"What's wrong? You're so distracted." Asked Lily.  
  
"How's the potions professor?" Asked Ron.  
  
"Professor Rainy? Well, he's kind of short, white streaked hair, and a big snore, why?" Answered Remus.  
  
"No, we didn't mean what he looked like." Said Hermione. "It's just, our potions teacher was very bitter and he hated our year."  
  
"Yeah, especially the three of us. He hates us." Added Ron. "In particularly Harry."  
  
"Well, as far as I know he doesn't hold grudges to anyone." Said Peter. "He's fairly kind."  
  
"Really?" Asked the three.  
  
"Yes." Assured Sirius. "Now, are you going to help us?"  
  
"With what?" Asked the trio.  
  
"We're going to prank Snape so that he says he loves Gryffindor every ten minutes." Said James.  
  
"I have to see that!" Said the three happily.  
  
It took them a moment, but they finally reached the potions classroom, and just as the Marauders had said, the potions professor was kind. After he had explained what they needed to know to make the potion they started, and the professor walked around checking on them.  
  
"We need to distract him." Whispered James.  
  
"Leave it to us." Answered Harry.  
  
Two seconds later, Hermione's hand flew to the air, and the teacher was listening to her worried ranting about the effects the potion would have if she added spinster web before salamander tails. While the poor and trusting professor tried to reassure her that, in seeing the potion's colour, she had done everything alright, Sirius approached the oblivious Snape and whispered something under his breath while pointing his wand to him.  
  
As soon as Sirius returned to his seat next to James, Hermione calmed down and the professor returned to his desk.  
  
Half an hour after they had started the potions lesson, everyone was looking at Snape expectantly.  
  
"Five, four, three, two, one..." Said James.  
  
"I love Gryffindor." Said Snape, quickly covering his mouth.  
  
All the Gryffindors started to laugh when they saw Snape's horrified face, and they laughed again when ten minutes later, Snape spoke again. It continued until dinnertime, every time causing everyone to laugh.  
  
That evening, they all sat talking about it in the common room, which didn't make Harry very happy, because he wanted to talk with Sirius.  
  
"Harry, aren't you going to bed?" Asked Remus, seeing they weren't moving to get up.  
  
"No, I'm not tired. You?" He asked to Ron and Hermione.  
  
"We neither."  
  
"Very well, sleep well." Said the Marauders, but once they had left the room, they threw on James' invisibility cloak over them.  
  
A few minutes later, they were once again in the common room, watching the trio silently.  
  
"Do you think they are asleep?" Asked Ron.  
  
"I hope so." Said Hermione. "I don't think anything worse could happen but that they find out."  
  
"Well, let's start." Said Harry while opening the same locket from the night before.  
  
"Harry!" Cried an adult voice. "You finally called! I was starting to get worried. How are you doing?"  
  
"I'm fine, Snuffles, I'm more worried about you."  
  
"You can call me 'Sirius', there's no danger right now." Said Sirius. "How are you doing, Harry? Is everything alright?"  
  
"Don't worry, I already said I was fine. Say, Sirius, how are things going over there?"  
  
"Things are going fine, everything's well."  
  
"Sirius, I want the truth. I don't believe things are well with Voldemort close."  
  
"Ok, you're right, things aren't going that well. Voldemort has started to kill witches and wizards; there are already three dead wizards and a few more muggles. The ministry is in panic, they can't hide the fact that Voldemort is back, and the minister cannot say he wanted to ignore it."  
  
"If Fudge wasn't such a moron, this wouldn't have happened." Said Ron.  
  
"Probably, Ron. But it's a fact that he's once again on a war path, and he's looking for Harry."  
  
"Is there any chance that he knows where I am?" Asked Harry.  
  
"I don't think so, he would have done something by now if he knew."  
  
"I see..."  
  
"But, Harry, don't worry about that, try to have fun while you're there. Try to enjoy the fact that no one knows about you right now."  
  
"I know, I know." Said Harry. "Don't worry, I'll try."  
  
"That's a good lad. Have fun, Harry, see you soon."  
  
"Bye, Sirius."  
  
The three remained silent, looking at the closed locket. There was no need for words. The Marauders, who had stayed very quiet, looked at each other under the cloak. Their eyes were full of worry and doubt. Who was Harry Potter really?  
  
To be continued...  
  
A/N: Thanks for all reviews, and thanks to my beta Vinnie. 


	8. Full moon, seven animagi?

8.- Full moon, seven animagi?  
  
After that, the Marauders were even more suspicious of Harry; it wasn't only the fact he seemed to be lost in thought from time to time, now they also knew that Voldemort wanted to kill their friend, and on top of that, there was the strange conversation they had overheard with the man through that strange locket. They had noticed Harry always had it on him.  
  
It had been nearly two months since they started term, and in class, the trio not only showed that they knew a lot, they had also practiced everything they knew.   
  
Harry seemed to be doing much better, but he some times seemed to be out of it and no matter what Ron and Hermione tried, they never managed to get him to cheer up.  
  
"Say, Harry..." Said James, while he and Ron played a game of chess, which as usually Ron was winning.  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
"Join us to pull a prank on Snape." Answered the boy.  
  
"Check." Said Ron while Harry's king threw his crown down. "Pull a prank on him? What did you have in mind?"  
  
"We don't know yet." Said Sirius.  
  
"We could use some of the pranks you brothers gave me." Said Harry pensively. "Even though I don't know what most of them are."  
  
"But I do!" Smirked Ron. "Every time they finished one they tried them at home... usually on Percy, although I didn't always get away from some of them."  
  
"Wonderful!" Cried seven voices at once, since Hermione and Lily had just joined them.  
  
"What could we use?" Asked Harry.  
  
"What about the humorous sugar?" Said Ron. "It's very funny, you put it in a drink instead of normal sugar and when someone eats it you have to wait 15 minutes. When the effects hits, all humour changes the subject has, are more pronounced. So, if you're feeling sad, you'll start to cry. There's a side effect though, depending on what you're feeling, your hair will also change colour."  
  
"Wonderful!" Laughed Remus. "How long does it last?"  
  
"There's an antidote, but if you don't use it, it lasts for three days; if you take it, only two hours." Answered Ron.  
  
"What's the antidote?" Asked Hermione.  
  
"A special salt."  
  
"Ok, we'll do it tomorrow at breakfast."  
  
The next day they did it just as they had agreed. James went down with his invisibility cloak and went to the Slytherin table; there he poured some sugar in Snape's juice and toast, then he walked out of the Hall and returned without the cloak. The prank was successful, soon Snape started to show all kind of feelings and his hair started to change colours. No one managed to find out what was going on or how to return it to normal.  
  
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000  
  
"Where are you going, Remus?" Asked Harry while he watched as the other boy quickly walked to the door.  
  
"Mmh, my mother is sick, I need to leave."  
  
"Again? I thought she was ill last month?" Asked Hermione.  
  
"And the other month too." Added Ron.  
  
"Well, she gets ill a lot."  
  
"What an unusual coincidence that she's always ill on the full moon, isn't it?" Said Harry calmly while Remus paled. "And today there's full moon too... it starts today, right, Hermione?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"You're a werewolf, aren't you, Remus?" Asked Harry.  
  
"Ho... How...?" Started to ask the boy.  
  
"We'll tell you when you come back. Go now if you don't want to change here."  
  
Remus disappeared through the portrait while the other Marauders looked at them scared. In the end it was Lily who dared to ask. "How did you know?"  
  
"In our third year, we had a new DADA professor; it turned out he was ill every time there was full moon and our potions teacher took charge of the class." Started Hermione.  
  
"It's no secret that our potions master wants the DADA position and that he always hates the teachers who take that place." Added Ron.  
  
"So, in one of those lessons, we studied werewolves even if it wasn't the time yet. He did it so someone would notice the coincidence. Luckily for him, we were the ones who noticed." Said Harry. "Our teacher was a werewolf."  
  
"And you didn't tell anyone?" Asked Sirius.  
  
"Of course not!" Cried Ron.  
  
"He was a great teacher!" Said Hermione.  
  
"And a wonderful person." Added Harry. "He was also one of my father's old friends, and he helped me a lot through that year. We kept his secret, but in the end, there were a few problems and the potions master outed him. He had to give up the defence position. It was really sad, because he has been the best DADA teacher we've ever had."  
  
"So, are you going to tell anyone about Remus?" Asked Peter.  
  
"No." Said Harry brusquely, and after that he turned to James. "But I think it's a good idea to do the animagus transformation."  
  
"Animagus?" Asked Lily.  
  
"How did you know?" Asked James.  
  
"You should be careful with your books." Said Ron while Hermione took the book.  
  
The three boys paled seeing the book, while Lily remained confused and the trio smiled. Once Hermione had given the book back, the Marauders seemed more at ease.  
  
"We won't tell anyone, if you allow us to do it with you." Said Hermione. "It's a great chance for us."  
  
"Why? So you can keep Harry protected from Voldemort?" Said Peter evilly.  
  
"Peter!"  
  
It was now the trio who paled. Ron and Hermione exchanged nervous glances, and Harry seemed to lose himself in thought. For a moment they thought they would have to do something to make him snap out of it, but he finally spoke.  
  
"Very well, Peter." He said with the same cold voice he usually used on Malfoy and his friends. "You found out. Since when do you know?"  
  
"I... I..." The boy said while taking a step back, this seemed much worse than usually.  
  
"We've known since the start of term." Said James. "We were worried about you and spied on you. We heard you talking with someone who said that Voldemort was searching you so he would be able to... well..."  
  
"To kill me." Said Harry coldly. "Do as you wish, I won't say anything about Remus. Good night."  
  
The six teens watched as Harry walked up the stairs that led to the boys' bedrooms. His face was expressionless; he didn't seem to be feeling anything. Just after he disappeared, Ron and Hermione turned around with hateful faces and glared at Peter. It took all Hermione had to not slap him right there.  
  
"Thank you so very much, Peter! You've just destroyed the hard work of a lot of people! Now that Harry was finally starting to forget and he seemed to be more like himself, you just had to go and remind him!" Hissed Hermione angrily.  
  
"But..." Started the boy.  
  
"Good night!" Shouted the other two teens.  
  
They turned around and quickly followed the same path Harry had. The Marauders looked at each other confusedly, and then James turned to Peter, also fairly angry.  
  
"You had to say it, didn't you? You just had to go and say it."  
  
"I didn't mean to, I just forgot."  
  
"Peter, was it so difficult just to say that it was ok? That it would be wonderful for them to join us in the transformation?"  
  
"It just came out!"  
  
"Guys, I think that's not important right now. Didn't you listen to what Hermione said? It seems we've really messed up. Yes, we, because we all spied on them, so we're all guilty. We should go up and apologise to them." Said Lily.  
  
They all agreed with her and they started to climb up the stairs. When they arrived at the top, they managed to hear some of the conversation the trio was having.  
  
"Come on, Harry, cheer up! You can't keep this up." They heard Hermione say.  
  
"Hermione's right, it was not your fault." Said Ron.  
  
"Of course it was my fault! Cedric died because of me! I told him to take the cup with me, I killed him!" Said Harry's anxious voice.  
  
"You didn't kill him, Harry! It was... it was Voldemort who killed him! You can't feel guilty for what he does, Harry!" Said Ron annoyed.  
  
"But I could have helped him! I should have known that they would kill Cedric as soon as I saw them!"  
  
"Harry, you've never told us what happened that night, and we don't want you to tell us if you're not ready. You were very brave when you told the headmaster and Snuffles. We don't know how Cedric died, and we don't know what V...Voldemort did to you. But we know you, Harry. We know you better than anyone else, and I'm sure that if there was something you could have done, you would have saved Cedric." Said Hermione soothingly  
  
"How can you be so sure?" Asked Harry.  
  
"Because I am. I am just as sure that it was you who jumped on a three meter tall troll to save my life when we didn't even get along, or that it was you who killed a seven meter long basilisk to save Ginny's live." Harry remained quiet. "And you didn't only save Ginny's live, you also saved Snuffles..."  
  
"That doesn't matter, it was my fault he died."  
  
The door opened to reveal the Marauders. James walked up to Harry and placed a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"We didn't mean to listen to what you were saying, Harry, at least this time not. But we couldn't help listen part of your conversation, and let me tell you that I don't think that his death is your fault." Said James.  
  
"That's true, Harry. You can't blame yourself for what Voldemort does." Assured Lily.  
  
Harry smiled at his parents' words and Ron and Hermione nodded happily. It seemed that James and Lily's words had much more effect on Harry than anyone else ever had had.  
  
"We also came to apologise." Said Sirius. "Even if we were worried, we shouldn't have spied on you."  
  
"And I'm sorry I said that, Harry."  
  
"We're sorry, Harry, we won't spy on you again." Said James and Lily together.  
  
"You don't have to apologise for spying on us." Said Harry. "Right, guys?"  
  
"Of course not!" Said Hermione.  
  
"It's quite alright."  
  
"Really?" Asked James.  
  
"Of course, because it is what we would have done had we been in you place." Smiled Harry.  
  
Everyone but Peter started to laugh. He noticed that Harry had forgiven them for spying on him, but he hadn't forgiven him for what he had said, and once again he couldn't help but wonder what he had done to the trio for them to dislike him so much.  
  
"Well," Started to say James. "We were going to tell you, before the incident, that we would love for there to be six animagi instead of three."  
  
"Seven animagi. I'm doing it too." Said Lily firmly.  
  
To be continued...  
  
A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta reader, Vinnie.  
  
Well, I've been nominated in the category for Best Author in The Harry Potter Fanfiction.net Fan Fiction Awards, anyone who wishes to vote go to:   
  
http://groups.msn.com/TheHarryPotterFanfiction-netFanFictionAwards/theballotcomevote.msnw  
  
Polaris 


	9. Padfoot, Wormtail, Prongs and Moony Who ...

9. Padfoot, Wormtail, Prongs and Moony. Who are the others?  
  
When poor Remus came back after the full moon, he was completely surprised to find out what had happened while he had been away. He felt very relieved when Harry told him that they weren't going to tell his secret. The teen also told him why they wouldn't. On the other hand, Remus became worried when they told him they were also going to do the animagus transformation.  
  
"We've been researching animagi for two years." Said James. "And we're nearly ready to do it; we're just missing a few details."  
  
"But now there're four more of us to help think." Added Lily.  
  
"Yes, and Hermione counts as two, right, Hermi?" Said Ron.  
  
"Ron!"  
  
"Hermi?" Asked Harry raising an eyebrow. "Since when do you call her 'Hermi'?"  
  
"Well..." Started Hermione. "You know my name is very long, and, well... one day he was in a hurry and he called me Hermi, and... and..."  
  
"Ok, ok, whatever you say." Said Harry, obviously very amused. "So, you don't mind if I call you that too, right, Hermi?"  
  
"No, of course not."  
  
After that meeting, they started to spend many hours in the library, trying to find everything they needed to know to transform. The Marauders soon found out what Ron had meant back at the meeting. Hermione moved through the library so easily that it seemed she had spent all her life in there. After two weeks, they finally had everything.  
  
"It's really a pity that we didn't have Hermione from the beginning, we would have gone through all of this much quicker." Said Sirius after listening to all the steps they would have to follow.  
  
"Hey, thanks for appreciating our help." Said Harry, Ron, and Lily at once.  
  
"Hey, I didn't mean it like that! It came out wrong, I meant..."  
  
Everyone started to laugh at Sirius' desperate attempt to rectify what he had said.  
  
That same night, they decided to do it. Using James's and Harry's invisibility cloaks (the Marauders were very surprised that Harry had one too), they went to an empty classroom, far away from Peeves and Filch.  
  
"We'll be fine here." Said James.  
  
"Yes." Said Harry. "Filch is on the other side of the castle."  
  
They decided they were going to do it in turn so that if something went wrong, the others would be able to help them out. The first to go was Sirius, who went to stand in the middle of the room and pointed his wand towards his chest. Everyone held his or her breath when a silvery light enveloped the boy and they were able to hear a strange sound. When the light disappeared, he was still Sirius.  
  
"What went wrong?" Asked Peter.  
  
"I don't think anything went wrong." Said Sirius.  
  
"No?"  
  
"No. While I said the charm, I saw a big, black dog." Then he added. "Of course, it might have been my imagination."  
  
"Try it and let's see what happens." Said Harry.  
  
"Think about the dog you've seen and try to transform." Added Hermione.  
  
Sirius nodded and a few seconds later a large, black dog was standing in front of them. After a while he turned back to Sirius. The next one to try was James; the only difference was that when the light disappeared, a beautiful, brown stag was standing in his place, the bright blue eyes looking around the room.  
  
"Wow!" He said when he was himself again. "I'm a stag!"  
  
"Prongs." Smiled Harry.  
  
"What?" Asked the Marauders.  
  
"It just came to my mind, you could be called 'Prongs'." Smiled Harry.  
  
"Hey! That's a good idea." Laughed Sirius. "What name could I have?"  
  
"How about 'Padfoot'?" Asked Ron. "After all' you turn into a dog..."  
  
"I like it!"  
  
"And we could call Remus 'Moony', because of the moon's influence on him." Smiled Hermione.  
  
After that it was Peter who tried. He needed more than five tries before an animal appeared in his mind. Not much later, he transformed into a small rat. Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at him in disgust, and when he turned back, the first one stated 'Wormtail' with a hint of repulsion.  
  
"Well, I think it's my turn." Said Lily.  
  
She did the same as the other three and pointed the wand to her chest, concentrating intently on the charm. When the light disappeared, they all saw a beautiful bird, with warm, red feathers that looked like fire and brilliant emerald eyes.  
  
"It's... she's..." Started Sirius.  
  
"A Phoenix." Stated Harry calmly.  
  
"Oh..." Said Hermione. "I've never seen one before."  
  
"What nickname are we going to give her?" Asked Remus.  
  
"Eternal." Said Harry and James at the same time, which made Ron and Hermione smile. They really were father and son.  
  
Harry smiled when Lily started to move her wings and landed on James' shoulder, nuzzling his cheek. Lily hadn't even changed back when Ron stepped forward and started the transformation. Everything went just as it had with the others. When the light disappeared, Ron had turned into a young and beautiful unicorn. Nearly at the same time, an owl appeared and flew to Ron's back. It seemed like Hermione had been too impatient to wait for her turn and had done it at the same time as Ron.  
  
"An owl..." mumbled Harry amused. "I should have known, what else could she be?"  
  
The owl was brown with fluffy feathers; she rose from her place on the unicorns back and went to Harry's shoulder. Once there, she dug hard into the flesh.  
  
"Ouch! Hermione, that hurts! I didn't mean it in a bad way!"  
  
"Hahahaha, that's what happens when you annoy a woman." Laughed Sirius. Seconds later, he was complaining too.  
  
"What do you think about naming Ron 'Noble' and Hermione 'Feathers'?" Asked Lily, who had already regained her human form.  
  
"That's fine with me." Said Ron after changing back.  
  
"Same here." Assured Hermione.  
  
"Well, now, the last one." Said James.  
  
Everyone turned to Harry, who was smiling calmly. Without a word, he pointed the wand to himself. This time, the light that came out of the wand was not silver; instead, it was a bright golden colour that surrounded Harry, blinding them all.  
  
When the light disappeared and the group was able to see again, they noticed a beautiful, dark brown stag. It had golden flashes through his back and his hooves were a dark golden red. They were all mesmerised by the animal, and when the stag turned around they noticed the emerald green eyes. Between the eyes, they saw a small silver spot in the form of a lightning bolt. All in all, the stag gave a sense of power, a strange and mysterious power hidden inside his being.  
  
"Wow!" Was everything they could say when they saw him.  
  
"A stag." Said Hermione while she and Ron walked closer and started to pet his head. "It had to be a stag."  
  
"Yes." Said Ron. "I thought so too."  
  
The Marauders looked surprised and finally Remus asked: "How did you know he was going to be a stag?"  
  
"We knew because in our third year we discovered something that told us he had a great affinity to that animal."  
  
"It's really weird that James and Harry turn into the same animal. And even if Harry has some differences, they look alike." Said Lily.  
  
"And what name are we going to give him?" Asked Ron.  
  
"How about 'Hooves'?" Asked Hermione.  
  
"That's ok." Said Harry after turning back.  
  
To be continued...  
  
A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta reader Vinnie. 


	10. A new teacher?

10.- A new teacher?  
  
After that, Harry and his friends started to call each other by their nicknames, and every time there was full moon, when Remus left to transform, the other children sneaked out of Gryffindor Tower and went after him. They spent many enjoyable moments while transformed, although Harry wasn't able to join them after a talk with Dumbledore and McGonagall's stern vigilance.  
  
"Hey, Hooves!" Said James during breakfast one day.  
  
"What's wrong, Prongs?" He answered.  
  
"There's a letter from my parents to you." He said, while giving him said letter.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
Harry opened it and read it with a smile. Since they had started term at Hogwarts, his grandparents sent him several letters each week, something that caused Harry no end of pleasure.  
  
"What does it say?" Asked Hermione.  
  
"They are wondering why I don't want to go spent Christmas with them, and they also don't understand why James doesn't want to go either." Answered the boy.  
  
"Well, Harry, you shouldn't worry if it's because of us." Said Ron. "We already knew you..."  
  
"Of course I worry. Besides, you've done it each year for me, this time it's my turn."  
  
"But..."  
  
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000  
  
It was nearly Christmas and until now, everything had stayed calm. The news they received from the future gave them some hope (the giants and the werewolves had started to fight against Voldemort) and it seemed like no one (except of the Gryffindors and those who had known from the beginning) knew where Harry was.  
  
Dumbledore stood up and made everyone quiet down with a small movement. When he saw that everyone's attention was on him, he started to speak.  
  
"As you all know, Professor Andrey had a small accident, and he won't be able to teach again until next year. So, from now, until, hopefully, the end of term, we will have a new teacher. He'll be here at any moment, so those of you that have Defence should head to your class."  
  
Everyone started to talk at once, but Dumbledore didn't say anything else. Harry wouldn't have been able to listen to much more anyways, because at that moment, the locket the Weasley twins had given him started to glow, showing that someone was trying to talk to them. They quickly made their way out of the Great Hall and went to a out of the way corner.  
  
"Fred, George, what's wrong?" He asked, scared.  
  
"Oh, guys, you're so lucky. You're going to be very surprised!"  
  
"That is, if you're not surprised yet."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Asked Ron.  
  
"You'll know in a bit, you're going to love it!"  
  
"Well, we'll see you later!"  
  
As suddenly as they had called, they broke the link. The three glanced at each other, wondering what that had been about. A few moments later, the Marauders joined them, but they still didn't know what to make out of those words. And then, when they were about to head to potions, Harry felt as if someone was holding him from behind.  
  
"Hey! Let go of me!" Shouted the boy, while fighting to get out of the arms that held him.  
  
He was therefore surprised when the arms let him go quickly but at the same time, gently. Harry turned around sharply, and his eyes widened in surprise. His shock made it impossible for him to react for a moment. Before him was a tall man with dark hair and blue eyes.  
  
"Snuffles!" He cried while jumping into the man's arms to hug him.  
  
"Harry! Come here, kiddo!" He answered while returning the hug.  
  
"I can't believe it, is it really you?"  
  
"Of course, who else would I be?" Said the man while ruffling his hair and taking his glasses away.  
  
"Hey! Give me those glasses back, you know I can't see anything without them!"  
  
"Here you go." Then he turned to the other two. "Hey, you two, aren't you going to greet me?"  
  
"Snuffles! It's just... you..."  
  
"You weren't expecting this, were you?"  
  
"No!" Said the trio at the same time.  
  
"Good." He smiled. "although I'm surprised the twins didn't say anything."  
  
"Of course! That's what they were talking about!" Cried Ron.  
  
"And what are you doing here, Snuffles?" Asked Harry.  
  
"I'll be your new DADA teacher."  
  
"You?!" Asked three voices at the same time.  
  
"Yes, me."  
  
"You're going to be our new professor?" Asked Lily.  
  
Sirius turned towards where the other teens were standing, his face expressionless. He looked at them for a moment, then he started to smile while he nodded.  
  
"Yes, I'll be your new professor. My name's Sirius Smith." He smiled. "And if I'm not mistaken, by the information the headmaster and these three kids gave me, you must be the Marauders. Right?"  
  
"Yes, sir." Said Sirius (Marauder)  
  
"Professor, could you tell us what the headmaster told you?" Asked Remus.  
  
"Just that you like pranks a little too much; he even told me about a few of them."  
  
"You shouldn't believe everything you're told, Professor." Said James innocently.  
  
"I think I should believe this one. And shouldn't you be going to class?"  
  
"Right!" They said.  
  
"Bye, Professor." Said the Marauders.  
  
"See you later, Snuffles!" Smiled the trio.  
  
When the teens disappeared, a voice at the man's back made him jump a little in surprise.  
  
"Snuffles?"  
  
Turning around, Sirius saw the headmaster standing next to his deputy- headmistress, Minerva McGonagall. Both were wearing amused smiles.  
  
"James came up with that. He started to call me that even before Harry was born, and the kid kept calling me that, just as his friends." He lied, he couldn't tell them he used that nickname so that no one at the Ministry would know they were talking about him.  
  
"And why would James Potter give you that nickname, Sirius Black?" Asked McGonagall while her smile widened.  
  
"He said it was because I couldn't stop and snuffle at everything that came my way." Said Sirius, then he added. "Harry is my godson, if anything happened to James and Lily, I would become his guardian."  
  
Both of them nodded, they didn't talk about that anymore; instead, they started to discuss that year's DADA syllabus and about why Sirius had come into the past.  
  
"The truth is that no one was very comfortable with the idea that the kids were here on their own, with no one to look after them. If they want, the three of them can be worse than we were as the Marauders, specially with Ron's twin brothers' help." He sighed amusedly, thinking about all the pranks they had done. "Just try to think about the three kiddos with the Marauders..."  
  
"But, why you, Sirius?" Asked Dumbledore.  
  
"Because not many people would notice my disappearance. If one of their parents came, it would attract too much attention. That left Remus and me, and Remus would attract too much attention with his monthly problem."  
  
"What about Peter?" Asked McGonagall.  
  
"Peter... it's been a long time since we could count on Peter." He said with a dark scowl. "We should talk about something else."  
  
"Of course... it would be better if you and Harry could chat for a while without interruptions. You don't have to teach right now, so why don't you go get Harry, Minerva?"  
  
"Of course, Albus, you'll have him here in a moment." Said McGonagall while walking out of the office.  
  
Professor McGonagall went through several halls until she reached the dungeons, where the fifth year Gryffindors had potions with the Slytherins.  
  
"Excuse me, Professor, could Mr. Potter come with me?"  
  
"Of course, Potter, leave."  
  
"Take your things, Harry, you'll be going right towards your next class." Said McGonagall.  
  
After that, they went back to Dumbledore's office. Harry was confused; why was she taking him to Dumbledore's office? He hadn't done anything wrong lately. Once inside, he couldn't take it anymore.  
  
"Am I in trouble, Headmaster?"  
  
"No, Harry, you're not. I just thought you would like to speak with Sirius for awhile."  
  
Sirius smiled at him from the other side of the room, and after saying their goodbyes, they left the room together. They started to walk around the school, much like Harry had done with the Weasleys before starting the last task of the Tournament. While they walked, they discussed many things about that time, about their own time, about Voldemort... the time flew and when they finally noticed, they had to run to reach the Defence class on time. It wasn't too important if Harry was late, but Sirius was the teacher.  
  
They reached the classroom just in time, Harry entered followed by Sirius.  
  
"Good morning, everyone." Said Sirius when he entered. "My name is Sirius Smith, and I'll be you DADA teacher until the end of term."  
  
The next hour, Sirius proved to be many things, but certainly not boring. His lessons were just as interesting as Remus' had been, with the difference that while Remus was always serious, Sirius was completely unable to be serious. He was nearly as mischievous as he had been when he was a teen, so he often made jokes and made the children laugh.  
  
When the lesson ended, everyone walked out talking excitedly about the wonderful lesson, especially the Marauders and the trio.  
  
"Professor Smith is cool!" Laughed James.  
  
"Yes, his class was interesting and funny." Started Remus. "A strange combination."  
  
"You didn't tell us that he was such a good teacher." Smiled Sirius. "Even I did like it."  
  
"Well... we just didn't know." Assured Harry.  
  
"Oh! Come on, Hooves, don't lie to us!" Cried Sirius, "I can't believe that you know him and that he hasn't been your teacher before."  
  
"Hooves?" Asked a voice behind them.  
  
Snuffles was standing there, glaring at them darkly, he looked angry. Harry had only seen him once looking like this. The time they had found Wormtail, and he was still stating that he was innocent.  
  
"Come with me, you three, I want to talk to you right now." He said sternly. "You five, tell your teacher they are going to be late."  
  
The Marauders nodded, and they left after shooting the trio concerned looks. When they were gone, Snuffles motioned them to follow him and led them to his office where he told them to sit down.  
  
""Hooves", Harry?" He asked. "Please, tell me you haven't done what I think you've done."  
  
"I... well..."  
  
"You did the animagus transformation, didn't you, Harry?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I thought so." He sighed.  
  
"He was not the only one, we did it too." Assured Hermione.  
  
They were surprised when Snuffles smiled. He even started to laugh loudly. When he calmed down, he started to speak.  
  
"I knew it! From the moment we sent you here I knew it was going to happen! I even told Dumbledore!" He said happily while the three teens glanced at each other confused.  
  
"Aren't you angry, Sirius?" Asked Harry.  
  
"Angry? Merlin's beard, of course not! Dumbledore and the Order thought it would be good for you to learn that. It will help you to hide from Voldemort. Which forms do you take?"  
  
"I'm a tawny owl." Said Hermione. "They call me "Feathers"."  
  
"An owl is fine, you're very smart, just like them." Assured Sirius. "What about you, Ron?"  
  
"An unicorn, my nickname is "Noble"."  
  
"Weird, I don't know about anyone who has ever transformed into an unicorn. And you, Harry? I guess you're a stag, right?" Harry nodded. "I would love to see you, all of you, in your animal forms."  
  
There was a soft 'pop' and the three teens transformed. Sirius smiled, impressed with Harry's form.  
  
To be continued...  
  
A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta-reader, Vinnie. 


	11. A small rat

11.- A small rat.  
  
It was incredible how quickly time passed while you were having a good time. That's exactly what happened to Harry. With classes, the time he spent with either Snuffles or the Marauders, in no time, it was the end of April and the OWLs were getting close. Hermione started to nag them about their studies and how they should have started earlier like she did. Both friends listened to her calmly, and the Marauders watching at them in admiration.  
  
Besides that, Snuffles seemed to start to get nervous; it seemed like he was waiting for something to happen, but he didn't want to tell them what was wrong. For some reason, he started to forbid Harry to go out with the Marauders during the full moons. At first, it started with detentions, which he always had to take on those nights. After that, it started to look like he was doing it on purpose, and Harry started feeling ill on those nights. Finally, the man spoke with the boy.  
  
"Listen, Harry, I don't want you to go out with the Marauders during the night anymore, is that clear?"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because...because... you're changing the past."  
  
"You were the ones who send me here!"  
  
"You heard me, Harry. I don't want you out at night with them."  
  
Those words angered Harry. Why was the man forbidding something like that? Of course, he didn't remain in the office long enough to find out. He turned around sharply and left the room, walking towards Gryffindor Tower, no one daring to stand in his way.  
  
"Harry!" Cried his friends, seeing him so angry.  
  
"What's wrong, Harry?" Asked Ron, approaching his friend, something most Gryffindors didn't think was very safe to do.  
  
"Snuffles forbade me to go out at night!"  
  
"Why?" Asked Hermione.  
  
"I don't know! He didn't want to tell me!" He said angrily. "But I swear I'm going to find out tonight."  
  
"Do you think that will safe, Harry?" Asked Hermione. "Snuffles must have had a good reason to forbid it, you know he worries about you. After all, he is your godfather, and he loves you."  
  
"Yeah, right." He said, still angry.  
  
"You'll come?" Asked Ron.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"But Snuffles..."  
  
"I don't care!"  
  
That same night, Harry, Ron, and Hermione took the invisibility cloak and left the school. Once outside, they hid the cloak and transformed. They started to run around the place, while playing. Coming after them, still covered with the invisibility cloak, were the Marauders.  
  
For the first time, Harry knew how the Marauders felt while running through the Hogwarts' gardens during the full moon. They made a surprising group, since it was not usual to see such a carefree unicorn. Not to mention that he was with a powerful looking stag and a resolute owl, who managed to steer her friends away from places she didn't want to go.  
  
After a while, the stag started to walk towards the Forbidden Forest. The unicorn and the owl didn't seem to like that idea, but nevertheless, they followed him.  
  
"Harry seems to be very much at ease out here, being the first time he comes out at night." Said Remus softly.  
  
"I know." Answered James. "The poor guy has had bad luck. In November he couldn't come out because Dumbledore wanted to talk with him, then the other times, McGonagall watched him closely. And now, since Smith's arrival, he has always been in detention or ill."  
  
"I don't understand why Professor Smith forbade him to come." Said Lily.  
  
"No idea."  
  
"Hey! They are going to the forest!" Cried Sirius.  
  
"Let's go then." Said the others, and they followed them into the Forest.  
  
They found them again a few minutes later, in a small clearance with a small pond filled with sparkling clean water. They stopped there to drink a bit and play. Hermione transformed back and took off her black robe, showing she was wearing a muggle T-shirt and shorts. She ran to play with the stag and the unicorn this way, because as an owl, she was only able to fly.  
  
It was during those games that they heard something coming from some bushes. The three ran to hide behind some other bushes while the Marauders stayed still. A few moments later, a man stepped into the clearance. He was not very tall, but he was dressed in dark robes, Death Eater's robes. From their hiding place, the Marauders saw how Hermione whimpered softly while the stag and the unicorn looked murderous. There was a small pop, and both boys returned to their human forms. After they changed, their expression went from furious and hate to cold indifference, they then stepped back into the clearance.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Asked Harry.  
  
"Ah, Harry, I knew you were here." Answered the Death Eater.  
  
"You didn't answer my question! What the bloody hell are you doing here?!"  
  
"I wanted to speak with you, Harry."  
  
"But I don't want to talk to you! So, go away!"  
  
"Harry, listen to me, I've come to help you."  
  
"I already know your ways of helping me." Assured Harry while sending him a hateful glance.  
  
"That was many years ago! I was young!" Cried the Death Eater.  
  
"Many years ago!" He shouted angrily. "You think you did this to me many years ago?!" He said while he lifted his shirtsleeve and showed him a black scar.  
  
"Well...I..." Said the Death Eater nervously while he ran his silvery hand through his hair.  
  
"It hasn't even been a year since you did this to me! Now leave, Peter! Or should I call you "Wormtail"? Is that what your master calls you now?" Said Harry.  
  
From their hiding place, the Marauders had to make an effort to remain still after those last few words, but they managed to continue listening quietly.  
  
"I'm risking my live with this!" Cried Wormtail.  
  
"Then leave!"  
  
"I owe you a life debt." He shouted. "That's why I came to warn you. You're not safe here anymore! My Master knows where you are!"  
  
Harry stayed still and silent for a moment, processing the information he had just received and after regaining his calm, he answered.  
  
"I don't give a damn about your life debt. I didn't save your life because of you, but because I knew that my father wouldn't have wanted his best friends to become murderers because of you. I thought that was clear. You should have thought helping us fourteen years ago, not now."  
  
"Don't talk like that, James and Lily were my friends!"  
  
"You betrayed them! They made you their secret keeper, and you gave them away to Voldemort! You were the one who murdered my parents, so don't tell me they were your friends, Pettigrew!" Shouted Harry.  
  
While he shouted, a golden light enveloped Harry, and everything started to shake around them. While the trees trembled, they were all able to sense the great power that surrounded the boy, and they started to hear thunder coming from far away while it started to rain.  
  
Wormtail started to tremble before the teen's power. He had never seen so much raw magical power in anyone, and for the first time, he knew why Voldemort wanted Harry dead.  
  
Just then, Snuffles arrived, and he ran to hug the boy while trying to calm him down. He was looking at the Death Eater with a hateful glare.  
  
"Leave, Peter, or I'll forget the promise I made to Harry those years ago!" Cried Sirius.  
  
"I don't want to hurt him, Sirius." Said Peter. "You have no idea how much I regret what happened...what I did."  
  
"No, I don't know, and I don't want to know. You gave James and Lily away, you didn't care that Voldemort wanted to kill them. Now, you should leave before I kill you."  
  
"No, he is not going anywhere." Said Harry.  
  
And even if the man was hugging him, he was able to raise a hand and pointed it to Peter. Mere seconds later, the Death Eater fell on the ground completely unconscious.  
  
"He is going right into Azkaban." Added Harry. "This time, he won't get away."  
  
With another movement of his hand, the Death Eater turned into a rat and was locked away in a crystal jar. After that, Harry turned around and hugged Sirius, crying into his shoulder.  
  
"Hush, calm down." Said his godfather. "Calm down, Harry. I told you not to leave the school, I asked you. I didn't want you to go through this."  
  
"You knew that Voldemort...?"  
  
"Yes, that's why I came to the past, to protect you."  
  
A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta-reader, Vinnie. 


	12. The Marauder's decision Explanations

12.- The Marauder's decision. Explanations.  
  
After that, Sirius swished his wand towards the castle, and soon after that, Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall arrived. At first, they looked angry when they saw the three students out there, but then they became worried when they saw that Harry was crying.  
  
"Sirius, what happened?" Asked Dumbledore.  
  
"A Death Eater, sir." Answered Sirius. "Harry and his friends felt the temporal displacement and came to check it out. They saw him right here."  
  
"Merlin!" Cried McGonagall. "Where is he?"  
  
"Here." Stated Ron, pointing to the rat.  
  
"A rat?" Asked the professors from the past.  
  
"This Death Eaters is an unregistered animagus; he has already managed to get away from us twice." Explained Sirius.  
  
"I see; what are you going to do with him, Sirius?"  
  
"We'll keep him locked up in this jar, and we'll hand him in as soon as we get back."  
  
"Very well."  
  
"Dumbledore, would you mind if Harry spends the night with me? I think we need to talk about a few things."  
  
"No, I don't mind."  
  
They started to make their way back to the school, not knowing that those who shouldn't have known about anything had seen everything. The Marauders followed them, still very shocked. They felt they hadn't understood it right, because by what they had heard, it seemed like that Death Eater was Peter, their friend and fellow Marauder, and that Professor Smith was really Sirius, another of their members. And as if that wasn't enough, there was still Harry. It seemed he was not really James' cousin, but his son, and Lily was his mother. Both were dead because Peter had betrayed them, giving them to Voldemort. All that was too difficult to believe, they needed to know more, so they were going to follow Harry.  
  
When Ron and Hermione started to head towards Gryffindor tower, Snuffles stopped them. He thought it would be better to talk to them too, so the 'four' of them went to the man's office and sat down.  
  
"I suppose you want an explanation." Said Snuffles. "Specially you, Harry. First of all, do you know why Voldemort killed your parents and wanted to kill you, Harry?"  
  
"No, Professor Dumbledore said he would tell me when I was ready."  
  
"Figures." Smiled Sirius. "Voldemort killed your parents and wanted to kill you because you have Godric Gryffindor's blood running through your veins."  
  
"What!?" Shouted Harry, Ron, and Hermione.  
  
"Yes, James was a descendant from Gryffindor, and therefore, so are you." Said Snuffles while staring at a picture of the Marauders in which Peter was not present. "I don't remember when I found out, I think it was in my fifth year. As you know, Voldemort is the last descendant of Salazar Slytherin, and he especially hates Gryffindors. Even so, he would never have done anything if he hadn't found out that one of Gryffindor's descendants was going to have great power, just as great as or greater than his ancestor. You can imagine what that meant to him, he, who was fighting against death itself, would have to face someone who would be able to kill him without any trouble."  
  
"That's why he tried to kill me? That's why he only wanted to kill my father?" Asked Harry.  
  
"Yes. Voldemort didn't know you were going to defeat him, he only thought that if he killed you and your father, the line of Gryffindor would die and no wizard or witch would be born with the power to destroy him. Then, thanks to that slimy rat, he found out that the one had already been born, and he decided to kill him before his power could grow. But Voldemort erred, he hadn't thought that Lily, a muggle born witch, would be able to destroy his plans."  
  
"She gave her life to save me." Said Harry dully. "Riddle said that was a very powerful counter curse coming from ancient magic."  
  
"Actually, it's the most powerful. To die in order to protect someone is the most powerful ancient magic. Voldemort is a heartless and cruel being, which made him forget the protection that that simple fact gave. That's why, when he tried to kill you, he wasn't able and the curse bounced of and turned against him."  
  
Harry stayed silent, there was too much information, and he was started to feel numb. It was even worse than the time he had found out he was a wizard and everything that had happened because of it.  
  
"But Snuffles, how did Pettigrew know that Harry was that wizard?" Asked Hermione.  
  
"I knew you would be the one to ask about that... You know, I understand why Remus said you were the smartest and most curious witch he had ever met." Smiled the man, making Hermione blush lightly, and Ron laugh out loudly. "There's a simple reason. You know Peter was Voldemort's spy; same as Snape was to Dumbledore... and you also know that we knew there was a spy in our side. We never suspected Peter, which led to the great mistake of appointing him as secret keeper. That meant he always had a lot of information to give to Voldemort, part of that information was Harry's birth.  
  
When Harry was born, both James and Dumbledore noticed the great power hidden in him. And James told us, his friends, about it. You can imagine that Peter didn't waste time to inform Voldemort, which caused him to go seriously against them. That's when we noticed there was a traitor between us. Well, you know the rest."  
  
Harry stayed silent some more time; he needed to understand all that information. But there was something that didn't make sense. All the while, in the jar, the rat had woken up and he was moving restless around its prison, listening intently.  
  
"Snuffles... there's something I don't understand. If I'm such a powerful wizard... where's that power? I've never showed that power."  
  
"Ah, Harry... I don't think you realize what happened earlier." Smiled Sirius. "You not only turned Peter into his rat form and locked him up in a crystal jar wandless, but... don't you remember the golden aura that surrounded you? Didn't you notice the storm you caused?" Harry shook his head astounded. "Harry, your power is still sleeping, hidden within you, or at least it was. It should have started to awaken since your last birthday, and you won't deny that your magical abilities have become much better. Earlier, a great part of it woke up when you became angry, but there's still some left asleep."  
  
"And how long have you known that Voldemort knew where I was?"  
  
"We started to suspect by the end of November, so we started to make arrangements to send someone after you so they could keep an eye on you, and half a month later everything was ready. My job here was to watch you and try to make sure you wouldn't go out while Voldemort was out there ready to attack you. I became worried when I found out about the animagus transformation, and I started to do things so you wouldn't go out with the Marauders. I'm sorry about the times you were ill, those were my fault too."  
  
"I should have known; I never get ill. It was really strange that I wouldn't feel well three months in a row and always on the full moon."  
  
Ron and Hermione left for their tower, and the Marauders used the chance to get out too. They were lucky that Harry called them back when Hermione opened the door, but they didn't stay to listen, they had to make their way back into the tower before Ron and Hermione.  
  
They reached the common room and were just sitting down when the Fat Lady opened again and the other two came in. They seemed surprised to see the Marauders sitting there.  
  
"How did it go?" Asked Lily innocently.  
  
"It was going well." Answered Hermione. "Until Snuffles caught us."  
  
"He caught you?" Said Sirius, pretending that he knew nothing.  
  
"Yeah." Said Ron. "He shouted at us for hours."  
  
"Where's Harry?" Asked James.  
  
"Snuffles wanted him to spend the night with him." Answered Hermione. "I'm going to bed, are you coming, Lily?"  
  
"No, the storm has left me completely awake."  
  
"Us too." Said Remus.  
  
"Ok, good night then." Said Ron and both he and Hermione went to their rooms.  
  
Some time later, after making sure the whole Tower was asleep, the Marauders looked at each other. None of them seemed able to say anything about what had happened. In the end, Peter broke the silence.  
  
"I can't believe it! It must be a lie!"  
  
"I don't know Peter, I'm not so sure about it. In fact, it makes perfect sense." Assured Sirius.  
  
"It does?" He asked.  
  
"Of course. From the beginning they have been very familiar with the school, they discovered Remus' secret in no time, and they found out we were trying to become animagi. They already knew!"  
  
"We have always wondered why they treated you so coldly, and this would explain it." Said James.  
  
"That would also explain why Harry looks so much like you." Said Remus. "Harry looks so much like you because he is your and Lily's son." He added, making the pair blush.  
  
"That means that my parents must know the truth, else they wouldn't have said he was my cousin." Said James. "And Dumbledore probably knows too."  
  
"You do realize that with everything we know we could change the future?" Asked Lily. "We could prevent all those things from happening."  
  
"That's strange." Said Sirius. "If we found out about all this, our future selves should have found out too, but they didn't do anything to change history. That's weird, I at least am not going to allow that things happen that way, why did my future self allow it?"  
  
They all stayed silent for a while, thinking why Sirius, or rather the kind Professor 'Smith' had allowed all that to happen when it was obvious they were willing to do anything to stop it. They didn't realize that at that moment, by asking that question, Sirius had really changed history.  
  
"I think they might obliviate us when they leave. That way no one will be able to change history, no matter how much we want to." Said Lily. "You shouldn't forget that right now James and I could make sure that Harry wasn't born. To tell someone about the future is very dangerous."  
  
"And what should we do? Because I refuse to allow the two of you to die." Cried Sirius, looking at James and Lily.  
  
"We should learn a shielding spell, if we manage to put it up just before they try to obliviate us it won't affect us, and we'll remember everything. But this spell is above the OWLs level." Said Lily.  
  
"Then how do you know about it?" Asked James.  
  
"I was curious about what we were going to do next year." She answered coolly. "We just need to learn it and do it just before the end of year feast. I don't think they are going to leave before that." 


	13. Fair warnings

13.- Fair warnings.  
  
The Marauders worked hard on changing the dark future, and even if Peter couldn't believe he would become a Death Eater, they didn't care. They spent a lot of time in the library, looking for information, which was easily hidden within the pretense of studying for their exams that were coming close, and at night, when the others were sleeping, they practiced. That became the new routine during the exams period, but they had to stop when they started their testing.  
  
Through the whole week, they were all very nervous; after all they were the OWLs, and everyone was worried about them. The Marauders and the trio were no exception, although they turned out to be easier than expected for Harry, especially with potions. Since Snape wasn't teaching those, the test seemed easier and less tense. They were all waiting anxiously for the DADA exam.  
  
The fact that Professor 'Smith' was kind and understanding, reassured them that he wouldn't be too hard on them. They were right. They had to tell him everything they knew about dementors; something most of them thought was pretty difficult, but the professor had made it easy to understand. When the trio heard about that, they relaxed; they knew all about dementors, especially Harry that even knew how to fight against them. But, when it was their turn to take the test, they were not so glad.  
  
"Hermione Granger!" They heard Snuffles call her (the Marauders had stayed behind to see how they did on their test).  
  
"Good luck, Hermione." Said Ron and Hermione.  
  
"Thanks." She answered before disappearing through the door.  
  
"I don't know why we bother wishing her luck, she doesn't need it." Said Ron. "She knows everything to perfection."  
  
"Yeah, especially about dementors." Assured Harry.  
  
"What I don't understand is why the three of you are taking the test apart from the rest of us."  
  
"We don't know either." Assured the two of them.  
  
"Maybe he's going to make it easier for you." Affirmed Sirius.  
  
"Or more difficult." Added Remus.  
  
Ten minutes later, Professor Smith looked outside and smiled when he saw the children.  
  
"You can all come in, Hermione has finished. Your turn now, Ron."  
  
The seven of them went in, wondering what it all was about. It was impossible to finish the exam they had had to do before in only twenty minutes, some of them had needed several hours to finish it! Once inside, they saw a very annoyed Hermione.  
  
"That wasn't fair, Snuffles! It's not even on OWLs level!" She complained.  
  
"Don't complain about it; other wizards and witches your age are already able to do it." The man answered.  
  
"Not any other wizards and witches! Harry! Harry is the only one who is able to do what you asked."  
  
"What's wrong?" Asked Ron.  
  
"My exam! He wanted me to summon a Patronus!" She answered.  
  
"Ouch, he expects a lot from you, Hermione."  
  
"From us. That's your test too." She said.  
  
"What!?" He cried astounded. "You must be kidding!"  
  
"No, I'm not, Ron. That's your test." Said Snuffles.  
  
"But why don't we have the same exam as the others?"  
  
"Because you know much more about dementors than the others." He answered. "Go ahead."  
  
Ron tried for 15 minutes, and finally, he got a silver cloud that adopted a slight form that you could barely discern as a horse. While he was at it, the Marauders looked at him with admiration.  
  
"Very well done, Ron. You took a bit longer than Hermione, but you did it." Said Snuffles. "Your turn, Harry."  
  
The boy stepped forward calmly and took out his wand. Before he had the chance to say anything, Snuffles stopped him.  
  
"No, Harry, I want you to summon your patronus without your wand."  
  
"Without my wand!?"  
  
"Yes, without your wand. This is a test, it's supposed to be difficult, and it won't be if I ask you to do something you've been able to do since you third year."  
  
"But I've never tried to do it without my wand! I'll never be able to do that."  
  
"You must. Remember the talk we had, and remember we have been practicing with smaller spells."  
  
"But this is not a small spell! With your wand it's nearly a NEWTs spell!"  
  
"And you've been able to do it since your third year." Said Snuffles easily.  
  
"I only learned it because I needed to defend myself!" He protested.  
  
"I don't care, Harry. This is your test, and that's all."  
  
"That's not fair."  
  
"Actually, yes it is. Now summon the patronus. Take your time, we're not in a hurry."  
  
Harry sighed, resigned to his fate. From the moment he had said without wand, he knew he would have to do it, after all, he knew his godfather very well. So, he closed his eyes for a moment, and then he started to concentrate, just as he had learned to do thanks to his godfather. Then he started to think about a happy memory, his happy memory and through his mind he started to chant the patronus incantation. When he was completely sure, he said the incantation out loud.  
  
"Expecto Patronum!" He said, his hand raised.  
  
A golden light started to envelop his arm and it started to gather. Two seconds later, a silvery cloud came out of his hand, concentrating in front of him and forming a visible figure: a stag, a beautiful silver stag.  
  
Everyone in the classroom looked in awe towards the noble animal. No one except for Hermione had ever seen Harry's patronus, and they were astounded at the sight. Even the girl was surprised since she had only seen a reflection of it, and she had been too angry to look at it properly.  
  
"It's even more beautiful than I remembered." Assured Hermione. "Much more."  
  
"It's gorgeous, Harry." Said Lily, while the boys nodded.  
  
Harry smiled tiredly, before collapsing in the nearest chair and the patronus vanished. He was feeling very, very tired. The patronus was a tiring spell with a wand, and doing it without one it had left him completely exhausted.  
  
"Very well done, Harry! You've done it perfectly!" Said Snuffles. "If you're able to summon a patronus without your wand, you'll be able to do any spell you learn. You've finished your tests, you should go to the tower and sleep for a bit."  
  
"Yes, I'll do that, I feel like I could sleep for a year." Assured Harry.  
  
Some time later, the eight were walking towards the tower. Harry was falling asleep on his feet, and the other seven had to keep an eye on him. They weren't surprised that he was asleep as soon as he lay down on his bed. Truth be told, Ron and Hermione were also very tired, but they were able to wait until it was time for bed. Harry didn't wake up to go to dinner and he was lucky next day was Saturday, because it was already mid- morning when he woke up.  
  
"Good morning." He said when he came down into the Common Room.  
  
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty." Greeted Sirius when he saw him. "You've been asleep since yesterday, soon it will be time to go to lunch."  
  
"Already? I didn't know it was so late."  
  
"Yes." Smiled Sirius, while he moved one of his rooks while playing against Ron."  
  
"Mmm. bad move." Said Harry. "What time is it?"  
  
"Half past twelve. Why is it a bad move?"  
  
"That's why." Smiled Ron. "Check."  
  
"Damn!" Growled Sirius while Harry and Ron started laughing.  
  
"How are you feeling?" Asked Lily.  
  
"As good as new."  
  
During the rest of the day, they played chess to see if they would manage to win against the redhead, but to no avail. The best of them was Harry, who had played so often against his friend that he had got much better; beside, he knew how the other boy played. Soon, when Harry played, everyone came to see how he was doing.  
  
"Sorry, Harry. Check." Said Ron with a smile.  
  
"I knew it, there's no way to win against you in chess." Sighed Harry.  
  
"But you've got much better. I still remember the first time we played!"  
  
"Don't remind me... that shouldn't even be considered a game."  
  
"Ok, who's next?" Asked Lily.  
  
"I'm next." Assured James. "This time you're not going to beat me."  
  
Harry smiled at those words, but he stood up, giving him his place. They started the game, and soon it was obvious who was going to win: Ron. From the beginning, he led the game and started to take out a lot of James' pieces. But this time, Harry wasn't paying attention; he was restless, like something inside him was telling him something was going wrong, very wrong. He walked closer to the window and looked outside. Without noticing, he touched his scar. Hermione saw the movement and became worried.  
  
"Harry, what's wrong?"  
  
"Something's wrong, Hermione, but I don't know what yet."  
  
"You've gone pale."  
  
"It's nothing."  
  
They both stayed still, looking out of the window. It's like they knew that whatever was bothering them, it would appear down there. All the while, Ron continued to play, not paying attention.  
  
"Ouch!" Suddenly Harry started to feel an insistent pain. His scar was burning.  
  
"Harry!" Cried Hermione, scared.  
  
Ron, James, and the rest of the Marauders looked around when they heard Hermione's cry, only to see Harry grabbing his forehead. While the Marauders didn't understand what was going on, Ron paled.  
  
"James, I give up." Said Ron while standing up and running towards Harry. "Harry, what's going on?"  
  
"Just what you're thinking." He answered.  
  
"But... but He can't be here, right? This place was supposed to be safe, he shouldn't be able to find you here."  
  
"Well, it seems there's no safe place as long as Lord Voldemort stays alive." He answered through clenched teeth.  
  
"What are you going to do?" Asked Hermione.  
  
"Same as last year, but this time, I'm not going to run away."  
  
"But Harry! You can't do that!" Said Ron. "It's too dangerous!"  
  
"You know what, Ron? I don't care." He said calmly. "I'm tired of this game, never again will I run away. This ends now"  
  
And after that, the lad turned around and left, following his senses towards Voldemort. All the while, his friends were looking at him, scared, and with a simple glance, they both knew what they had to do. Two seconds later, they followed their friend, and were at the same time followed by the Marauders. Half away, they saw Snuffles.  
  
"Ron, Hermione, what's wrong?"  
  
"He's here, and Harry has gone after him." Said Ron without even stopping.  
  
"What!? Why didn't you stop him!?" He questioned them, scared.  
  
"Get real, do you think it would have helped?" Asked Hermione. "We tried to tell him, but he didn't even listen to us."  
  
They didn't say anything else, and when they reached the gardens, they saw what they had tried to prevent. Lord Voldemort was standing with his Death Eaters in front of Harry, who was looking at him challenging.  
  
To be continued... 


	14. Clashing of powers

14.- Clashing of powers.  
  
Slowly, Ron and Hermione went to stand behind Harry, after making sure the Marauders would stay away. The boy's godfather did the same. They were ready to help him as much as they were able to.  
  
"Well, well, well, we meet again, Potter." Said Voldemort while his red eyes looked at the boy.  
  
"So it seems." Nodded the boy. "Although, I hope this will be the last time."  
  
"Oh, I assure you, I also hope it will be, Potter."  
  
"Not more than I do."  
  
"I see you've brought more friends this time, what's wrong? Are you afraid I will do to you the same I did to your last friend? That idiot deserved what he got."  
  
"Don't you dare call him that!" Shouted Harry, while everything started as it had done when he had got angry with Wormtail a few weeks earlier.  
  
The golden aura started to surround him as everything started to tremble, thunder and lightning started to flash in the sky while it started to rain. Some teachers came out, trying to see what was causing the great magic that floated through the air. They saw the Death Eaters surrounding three students and a teacher, and a lot of them tried to go help them but Dumbledore stopped them.  
  
All the while, Voldemort was looking at the boy with a hateful but worried glare.  
  
"It seems the boy's power has awakened, Master." Said one of the Death Eaters.  
  
"I know that, you idiot. I can see that myself."  
  
"But, Master, what are we going to do? You wanted to kill the boy to make sure his power wouldn't awaken."  
  
"Ha!" Laughed Voldemort. "Some of the boy's powers have awakened, but he's not yet ready. I think I'm going to have a good time." He turned to Harry once again. "Nice, Potter, a wonderful show, a pity you will never be able to do it again."  
  
"I think you mean that you will never be able to see it again."  
  
"No, my dear boy, no. Because you're finally going to die."  
  
"We'll see."  
  
Voldemort raised his wand and threw a cruciatus curse. Just before he was hit, the boy formed a large shield with a small movement of his hand that stopped the curse. They continued in this form for a while, always with the same results: when the curse should hit the boy, he created a shield. It soon became obvious that while Voldemort was getting tired, Harry was standing as he had when they started.  
  
"What's wrong, Potter? Why aren't you attacking me? Are you scared?" Asked Voldemort, trying to get a rise out of the boy.  
  
"I'm not scared of you, Voldemort. You know that as well as I do."  
  
"No, Potter. You're scared; you're scared for me. You're using a shield to defend yourself because you're scared to fight against me. You're just a coward, just as your parents."  
  
Voldemort watched him intently, trying to see his reaction, but contrary to what he thought, the boy didn't react. He seemed to be extremely calm. The ones that had reacted, was Sirius, and if Ron and Hermione hadn't caught him, he would have jumped on him.  
  
"They begged me, Potter. They begged for their lives. It was a wonderful time for me, to kill them while they were begging me for their lives.for your life." He added.  
  
There was a deep silence; everyone had frozen after those words. Only Sirius seemed to react; he wanted to beat the hell out of Voldemort for those words, while telling Harry that he was lying. Ron and Hermione had trouble to keep him in place.  
  
"Don't try to lie to me, Voldemort. It's not going to work and you know it as well as I do. Neither my father nor my mother begged for their lives. They died, yes, you killed them, ok, but they both died fighting against you. My father died to protect my mother and me, and she died to protect me. And you know that was just what defeated you that time."  
  
"Shut up!"  
  
"What's wrong, Voldemort? Don't you like to be told what happened? Don't you like to know the truth? Don't you like to remember that my mother, daughter of muggles, was the reason that you lived like a shadow for thirteen years?"  
  
"I told you to shut up." Cried Voldemort. "Imperio!"  
  
This time, Harry didn't do anything to stop the curse; he just smiled. The curse surrounded him completely, and Voldemort smiled victoriously.  
  
"You're going to beg for your life!" He said while looking at Harry.  
  
"I think, Voldemort, that you're forgetting something." Said Harry calmly, while everyone gasped in surprise (except for Ron and Hermione). "The Imperio curse doesn't affect me. I thought you had found out about that last year, when, if I remember correctly, you tried to do the same."  
  
If it were possible, Voldemort would have become even paler right then. Things weren't going as he had planed and he knew it. He knew very well what would happen if the boy's powers had fully awakened. He knew it, yet it had seemed amusing to duel against the boy now that he was more powerful. Now he realized it had been a bad idea.  
  
It would have been easier to kill him the year before, just after regaining his body and his powers, but the boy had managed to get away just in time. It would also have been easier to kill him at his relatives' house, but the old fool had appeared with a lot of well-trained wizards and witches, and he hadn't been able to do it. After all that had gone wrong, he had thought he would be able to kill him indirectly, which would have been effective if not honorable. But he had decided to duel, and now, he not only couldn't kill him, it was showing that he was weaker.  
  
"Avada Kedavra!" Shouted Voldemort, pointing his wand at Harry. But the boy raised the shield once again and the curse didn't hurt him.  
  
"What now, Voldemort? What else do you have planned?" Asked Harry in an ice- cold voice. "Maybe kill my godfather? My friends?"  
  
Voldemort looked around, to kill someone else wasn't a bad idea. It had to be someone who the boy loved; it would hurt the boy and make him an easier target. But what if he made the boy grow furious? He would destroy him. No, he needed to make sure that he wouldn't be able to do anything after that attack, but how? The solution dawned on him when he saw the people from the past.  
  
"Avada Kedavra!" He said while pointing at James.  
  
Everything happened very quickly, the curse was speeding towards the boy and no one seemed to be able to stop it. Besides, it seemed like he was attached to the ground. He wasn't able to move!  
  
"Protectio Scutum!" Shouted Harry while he pointed towards the group from the past, concentrating on James.  
  
A few seconds before the curse hit the boy, a very strong shield enveloped them and protected the boy. After making sure they were alright, Harry turned towards Voldemort, furious, making the storm pick up.  
  
"That was a low blow, Voldemort."  
  
"Maybe, but you have to admit it was a good way to get rid of you." Said Voldemort calmly, even if he was shaking inside. "If I had killed you father in this time, you would have never been born, you would never have defeated me and you would simply disappear. Had you reacted a few seconds later, you wouldn't exist anymore."  
  
"This is the last straw." He said furiously.  
  
Harry raised his hand, and pointed it towards Lord Voldemort and his followers, who became desperate when they noticed they weren't able to move. With a deep voice, he shouted:  
  
"Magice Mortit!"  
  
Once he had said those words, there was a bright white light that hid Voldemort and his followers for an instant. When it disappeared, they were still standing there, in one piece. They stood up; there were panicked whispers coming from the professors and the Marauders, while the Death Eaters laughed victoriously.  
  
"I think things didn't go as you expected, Potter." Said Voldemort.  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Now you're going to die. Avada Kedavra!"  
  
But nothing happened. He tried again with another wand but nothing. Voldemort became deathly pale, while his followers saw they were in the same boat.  
  
"You stupid brat! You surely didn't dare..." Said one of the Death Eaters.  
  
"Careful, Mr. Malfoy, I wouldn't like to have to hurt someone who is not able to defend himself. Remember you're just a muggle."  
  
"Why did you turn us into muggles instead of killing us?" Asked Voldemort.  
  
"Easy, Voldemort. I'm not a murderer. Say goodbye to this place, you're going to where you should have been all along. Azkaban." Said Harry.  
  
He made a small movement with his hand and Voldemort and his Death Eaters disappeared. If someone had been in Snuffles' room, they would have seen that a certain rat also disappeared. After that, the fury that had been surrounding Harry disappeared and the power returned inside him.  
  
"Harry!" Shouted Snuffles, running to catch his godson when he saw him start to fall. "Harry, are you alright?"  
  
"Yes, don't worry, I'm just tired." He said while his eyes closed.  
  
"Rest, Harry." Said Sirius, and with those words, he pushed him into sleep. 


	15. A new life

15.- A new life.  
  
When Harry closed his eyes, completely asleep, Snuffles picked him up and turned around towards the castle, followed by the very worried Ron and Hermione, and the surprised Professors and Marauders.  
  
"Madam Pomfrey." Said Snuffles. "Could you take a look at Harry?"  
  
"Of course, follow me." Said the astounded nurse.  
  
They all headed towards the hospital wing, some because of worry and others because they wanted an explanation. When they reached the infirmary, there was barely place to walk, which annoyed Madam Pomfrey, and she made everyone leave except for James, since she wanted to check him out to make sure he was alright. They didn't like it, but she didn't give them a choice, and they had to wait until the nurse came out.  
  
"How is he doing?" Asked Snuffles.  
  
"Well, he's fine." Said Madam Pomfrey. "He's just completely exhausted, which is not unusual after all he has done. He just needs a bit of rest, or rather, a lot of rest. I think he should stay here until the end of term."  
  
"And James?"  
  
"He's fine." She said calmly. "Considering he would be dead if it wasn't because of Harry, he's perfectly alright. I just want him to stay until tomorrow to make sure."  
  
"Well, I think you owe us an explanation." Said Dumbledore.  
  
"Of course, Headmaster." Said Snuffles. "Although it seems I'll have to start from the beginning. It's not fair that only you and Professor McGonagall know the truth. First of all, and as you probably know by now, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I come from the future. From twenty-two years into the future, to be exact." There were small gasps coming from most teachers. "My real name is Sirius Black, and I'm also that boy standing there." More gasps. "Harry is really James' son, not his cousin, and Lily is his mother." The teachers were unable to react. "We came to this time to protect Harry from Lord Voldemort, because he had been trying to kill him since he was born."  
  
"That's what Minerva and I knew." Said Dumbledore. "Why don't you tell us the rest?"  
  
"Very well, Headmaster. As you have seen, Harry isn't a normal boy, not only because of his power and because he has always been more responsible and mature than any boy his age, but also because he is the descendant of Godric Gryffindor, making him Voldemort's main objective."  
  
"The prophecy." Said McGonagall.  
  
"Yes, the old prophecy that said that one of Godric Gryffindor's descendant would be much more powerful than most, more powerful than he himself had been. When Voldemort found out, he decided it was not a good idea to leave the remaining descendants alive, which became even worse, when his spy told him that Harry was that wizard. So, he used our trust in his spy and at Halloween, when Harry was only one year old, he attacked Godric's Hollow. James and Lily died at his hands, trying to protect their family, but Harry didn't. When the killing curse touched Harry, it turned around and flew to Voldemort, only giving him the scar he has on his forehead with the form of a lightning bolt. On the other hand, Voldemort wasn't as lucky, and he was reduced to a mere shadow."  
  
"But if he was reduced to a shadow, how comes we saw him?" Asked Professor Flitwick.  
  
"Because from the moment that Harry defeated him, he has been searching for a way to come back, and last year, he finally managed it. During that summer, he attacked Harry's house, and we didn't see any other way to protect him. We needed some time for his power to awaken, and we didn't know when it was going to happen, we only knew it would be after his fifteenth birthday." Ended Sirius.  
  
"And what are you going to do now?" Asked Professor Dumbledore.  
  
"We'll wait until the end of term, and we'll go back to our own time. I hope you'll understand that we're going to obliviate you; we can't risk changing the future, Harry might not be born."  
  
"I guessed as much." Said Dumbledore. "Changing a small fact can have disastrous consequences in the future."  
  
It took Harry three days to wake up, and even when he did, he could barely move. Ron and Hermione hadn't left his side, fearing how their friend was going to react after the battle with Voldemort. What if the nightmares about Cedric came back? Or the ones about his parents' deaths? And what if he became even more closed and quiet? Lucky for them, that didn't happen. Actually, Harry felt like he was free for the first time, and he was feeling carefree.  
  
It had been two days since he had woken up when some people came to see him. The Marauders.  
  
"Come in." Said Harry when they knocked on the door, while stroking Saïl, who had already reached his adult form. He was nearly as big as a cat.  
  
"Hey, Harry, can we come in?" Said James looking into the room while the others waited behind him.  
  
"Hello. Come in, come in!" He said happily.  
  
"How are you feeling?" Asked Lily once they were inside.  
  
"Much more rested." He smiled, but since they were looking at him distrusting he added. "Don't look at me that way! I'm fine. I guess, you would like an explanation?"  
  
"Actually, only one." Said Remus.  
  
"Ask away."  
  
"How on earth did Sirius end up being a teacher?" Asked James, Lily, Remus, and Peter at the same time.  
  
Harry looked at the surprised for a few moments, and then he started to laugh loudly, while the Marauders looked at him surprised and Sirius hurt.  
  
"Sor...sorry, but that was about the last thing I thought you were going to ask." Said Harry between laughs. "Sorry." He said again when he was calmer. "Well, Sirius didn't end up being a teacher, at least, before this he wasn't; maybe after these months he has taken a liking to it. Who actually ended up being a professor was you, Remus."  
  
"Me?" Said the boy.  
  
"Yes, you, you were, or are going to be, my DADA teacher in my third year."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Really. The best we've had so far, and if Snape had kept his mouth shut, you would have been the first to last more than a year."  
  
"Snape is a teacher too?" They all cried at the same time.  
  
"Unfortunately for me, yes." Said Harry. "He's my Potions professor."  
  
"Poor you." Said James, horrified.  
  
At that moment, someone knocked on the infirmary door, and when it opened, they saw Ron and Hermione pecking in, large smiles on their faces. Harry recognized those smiles; they knew something he didn't. How he hated when that happened.  
  
"Hey, Harry." Said Hermione.  
  
"What's going on?" He asked.  
  
"Going on? Nothing." Stated Ron, but it was obvious he was lying.  
  
"You're hiding something."  
  
"We? Oh, Harry, we've never hidden anything from you." Said Hermione.  
  
"You're one to talk, I could think of a few things." Said Harry, making Hermione nervous. "What's going on?"  
  
"Actually, nothing." Said Ron. "You just have some guests."  
  
"Guests? Snuffles?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Then?"  
  
The door opened again and a lot of red head appeared. Eight to be exact: the Weasleys. As soon as Mrs. Weasley saw Harry, she rushed to hug him.  
  
"Oh, Harry! Harry!" She said while hugging him.  
  
"Mrs. Weasley, I... can't... breathe." Said Harry.  
  
"Molly, dear, if you don't let him go you're going to kill him." Said Mr. Weasley.  
  
"Oh, Harry, dear, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."  
  
"Hey, Harry!" Cried the twins. "How did the pranks go? Did they work?"  
  
"Fred! George!" Chastised Mrs. Weasley.  
  
"Wonderfully." Smiled Harry. "We still have a good laugh when we remember Snape and the changing spary."  
  
"What did he turn into?" Asked George anxiously.  
  
"In a goat!" Laughed Ron. "He ate his own potions notes!"  
  
Everyone started to laugh, except for Mrs. Weasley who looked pretty annoyed.  
  
"Oh, come on, Mum, Snape is not our teacher here! Allow us to take a bit of revenge for all those times he has given us detention!" Said Ron.  
  
"Oh, Alright." She said in the end.  
  
Everyone started to laugh, even Mrs. Weasley this time. It was just then when Harry noticed a pair of special blue eyes and everyone started to smile, except for the Marauders, who didn't understand what was going on. A moment later, they were herded outside while someone picked up Saïl.  
  
"What's going on?" They asked once outside.  
  
"Those two need some time alone." Answered Hermione.  
  
"Who is she?" Asked James.  
  
"That's my sister, Ginny, and Harry's girlfriend." Said Ron.  
  
"Girlfriend? We didn't know he had a girlfriend!"  
  
"They got together halfway July. They were both embarrassed when Percy saw them kissing." Laughed Fred. "It just had to be Percy!"  
  
"Why?" asked Lily.  
  
"Because when Ginny was a first year, she caught Percy kissing his girlfriend Penelope in an empty classroom. Percy nearly begged her to not say anything." Laughed George. "Of course, the two of them didn't even have the chance to ask, we came in just behind Percy."  
  
"Yes, and you made sure the whole house knew." Said Percy annoyed.  
  
"Well, not everyone, Professor Lupin and Snuffles don't know. They weren't there." Said Fred and with an evil smile he added, "How about we tell them now?"  
  
"Don't even think about it!" Cried Mrs. Weasley. "They will tell them when they are ready."  
  
The Weasleys stayed in the past until the end of term, they would all go back together, and just as Sirius had said, just before they left, after the leaving feast, the adults and Harry cast an obliviate spell. Of course, they got the results of their OWLs before that. The three of them had got very good marks, Hermione got seventeen, Harry sixteen and Ron fourteen (It was obvious that Snape didn't teach them potions, because they all got owls in it).  
  
So, when the feast ended and they had finished casting the spells, the rings they were wearing and that they used as portkeys started to shine, and slowly, they all returned to their own time, where the whole school was waiting for them.  
  
"Welcome back!" They all shouted when they appeared.  
  
The news that Voldemort had disappeared had arrived, and everyone seemed very happy and grateful. It had finally ended! But there was something strange going on, no one seemed to be afraid of Sirius; on the contrary, they were treating him with respect. They thought it was strange, but Hermione, who was the first to notice, brought up the first real sign that something was wrong.  
  
"Harry!" She whispered scared and surprised. "Your scar, your scar!"  
  
"What's wrong with it?"  
  
"It's not there!"  
  
"What!?" Everyone shouted.  
  
Harry put his hand on his forehead and he saw she was right; the scar was not there. But if his scar was not there, then it meant that Voldemort hadn't cursed him, and if he didn't do it...  
  
"Harry..." He heard while arms enveloped him.  
  
When he turned around, he came face to face with bright green eyes. It was a red-haired woman, on her late thirties. It was his mother! And his father was standing next to her!  
  
"You shouldn't forget that we're the Marauders, Harry." Whispered Lily. "We made sure that you wouldn't be able to erase out memories, and when the time came, we didn't trust Peter. We changed history, and now you have parents. We have a lot of time to make up to you, dear."  
  
Harry's eyes filled with tears and he hugged his mother and then his father. Without meaning to, he had changed the past, and he had done it for good. Voldemort didn't exist anymore, Sirius was free, and most important, his parents were still alive. Now he would be able to start a new life.  
  
The End  
  
A/N: Well, that's it with the translation. I don't think I'm going to do that again, I just had the temptation to change so many thinks even if I loved the fic from the moment I read it. My mind couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if... well, I'm sure you know how I feel ^.^ Once again thanks for all your support and thanks to Khari for allowing me to translate her fic and to Vinnie for beta reading it. I hope I was more or less up for the job of translating this.  
  
Hugs to all,  
  
Star Polaris 


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